The Handsome Cop
by margeyadis
Summary: Bella Swan, young mother of two, finds romance in police officer Jacob Black.
1. Chapter 1

**There aren't any Bella/Jacob stories (that I know of) where Jacob is a cop so I figured I'd write my own. As you can tell by my other Twilight stories, I'm Team Jacob and I wish Bella ended up with Jake and not Edward, though Team Edward fans would disagree with me.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

I'm running around the apartment like a chicken with its head cut off. Once again, I've slept through my alarm, which means the twins are late for school. Again. Thankfully, their teacher is very understanding—because she happens to be my stepsister—but this doesn't mean the twins can be late for school whenever they choose.

"Charlotte! Susannah!" I call from the kitchen where I'm putting the girls' lunches in their backpacks. "Time to go!"

"But Mommy, we haven't had breakfast yet," Charlotte whines as the girls emerge from their shared bedroom, both dressed in the outfits I laid out for them.

I go to the pantry and grab two granola bars. "Here," I say, handing each one to them. "You can eat these in the car." I put my shoes on first then I help Charlotte and Susannah with theirs. Once we're all ready, we head out to my car.

The twins' school is fifteen minutes away. As much as I would like to disobey traffic laws, I can't. There are children in the car, after all. Once I'm there, I park in front of the building and hurry to get the girls out of their car seats. This morning when I got out of bed, I didn't bother to get dressed or wash my face or do anything to make myself look presentable. So, it's no surprise when I show up to Charlotte and Susannah's classroom, hair all disheveled, face dirty, wearing a Mickey Mouse pajama T-shirt and matching pants.

"Charlotte, Susannah," Emily says from the front of the room. "So nice of you to join us."

"Sorry we're late, Miss Emily," the girls say in unison as they both make their way to their desks on opposite sides of the room.

"It's okay," Emily says before turning her attention to me, still standing in the doorway, hearing giggles from the students. "Nice PJs," she gestures to my attire, trying to not to giggle herself. "Will you be picking them up later?"

"I can't," I tell her. "I work at three today."

"No problem, then," Emily says. "I'll take them home with me."

We say our goodbyes and I head back to my car. Emily—along with her sister, Leah, and brother, Seth—has always been there for me, even when I became a single mother at sixteen. I get along great with Leah and Seth, but it was Emily whom I became close to. We were (still are) best friends. There were times when I couldn't pick up the twins from school or take them to their after-school activities and pick them up afterwards because I was working. Emily would do that and she would bring them home with her. She'd look after them until I was done with work, even if it was late at night.

I'm tired when I get home and decide to go back to sleep, setting my alarm to eleven and placing my phone inches away from my face, hoping I'll wake up this time.

* * *

Surprisingly, the diner wasn't very busy. But then again, it's a weekday. I'm sweeping the floors when I hear the bell, signaling that a customer had just walked through the door.

"Sorry, we're closed!" I call out, not bothering to look up.

"I understand," a male voice says. "But could I please just get a cup of coffee? I'm working the night shift so I have to be on high alert."

When I look up, a man who looks to be in his late twenties is standing in the doorway, wearing a police uniform. He's holding his police hat to his chest and grinning at me. His skin is a russet color, his eyes are brown, and his hair is short and black. He's also really buff, for a cop. He must work out a lot. I'm suddenly smitten with him but I can never date him. I'm not interested in dating anyone. My main focus are my children and providing for them. Also, seeing him in his police uniform brings back memories of my father, the Chief of Police.

Fighting back the tears that are threatening to well up in my eyes, I purse my lips before going behind the counter to make a fresh pot of coffee. "Okay, but only because you're a cop and if I were to refuse, you'd probably arrest me."

The man laughs. "It's not really a crime to say no to a cop when he asks you to make a cup of coffee for him. If anything, I'd just keep begging until you said yes."

Now it's my turn to laugh. Once the pot is filled, I'm about to grab a mug when the young man's voice stops me. "Oh, it's okay. I brought my own cup." He hands me a thermos with the lid off and I take it, placing it down on the counter and pouring the coffee into it. I pass the thermos back to the man, along with two single-serve cups of creamer, two packets of sweetener, and a coffee stirrer. He takes one of each and pours them in his coffee, using the stirrer to mix them in.

"I'm Jacob by the way," the man sticks out his hand. "Officer Jacob Black. But you can call me Jake."

"Isabella Swan," I shake his hand before pulling away. "But everyone calls me Bella."

The man called Jacob's eyes widen in surprise. "Swan? You don't happen to be related to Charlie Swan? The late Chief of Police?"

"He's my father," I say, sadly.

"He was a good man," Jake tells me. "He died too soon." He notices my discomfort. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that, your father was well-loved by everyone. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for him."

"Really? Why is that?" I ask, curiously.

Jake hesitates, like he doesn't want to upset me further. "Would you mind if we sit so I can tell you all about it?" He gestures to one of the booths by the window.

I nod and follow him, sitting down across from him.

Jake starts, "I wanted to become a cop like Charlie for as long as I could remember. I wanted to catch criminals and get them off the street. I wanted to save lives. My high school was having a job fair. Charlie was there with one of his colleagues. When I approached their booth and told him I wanted to become a cop, he told me I could do it. He asked if I wanted to shadow him for a day. I of course said yes and that day, I got to see what it was like being a cop. I got to ride in a police car, watch Charlie give out citations to drivers who were disobeying traffic laws. All the things a cop does when he's in the field.

"The next day, I filled out the application for the Police Academy instead of a college application. Charlie even put in a good word with someone he knew from there. He saw I had potential. When I got the acceptance letter in the mail, I wanted him to be the first to know. I didn't get a chance to tell him I had gotten into the Academy."

Jake gives me a sad look and takes my hand in his, a gesture that makes me uncomfortable since I just met him. I don't pull away, though. "I know what it's like to lose your parents. Mine died in a car accident when I was twelve years old. By that point, my sisters were eighteen years old, but it was my oldest sister, Rebecca, who became my legal guardian until I turned eighteen."

"I'm sorry," I say, meaning it.

Jake just gives me a small smile before releasing my hand to grab his phone attached to his belt. He turns it on and glances down at the time.

"I have to go," he says, standing up. "Night shift. Thanks for the coffee, Bella. I hope to see you again soon."

I say bye to him, giving him a small wave as he walks out of the diner.

"Who was that?" I jump at Leah's voice from behind the counter. Not only is she my stepsister, but she is also my co-worker.

I get up from the booth and go to lock the door. "That was Jacob. Jacob Black. He's a cop. He just came in to grab a cup of coffee."

"He's hot," Leah says, winking at me. "You gonna go for that?"

I shake my head. "You know I can't."

"Bella, when's the last time you went on a date?" she asks me.

I think about it before answering. "When I was sixteen. But look where that led to."

"If you don't want to make the same mistake again, then don't have sex with the guy on the first date," Leah says. "Or at least go on the pill if you do plan to have sex with him." She laughs before walking to the back of the diner to grab her stuff from the lockers, me following behind.

"I don't know, Leah," I tell her, putting on my coat before grabbing my shoulder bag from my locker. "I'm just not interested in dating anyone at the moment. Right now, I need to focus on my children."

"Your children will always be your number one priority," Leah says as she turns off all the lights. "Going on a date with the hot cop won't change that." Once we're outside, I lock up and we just stand there in the cold night air.

"You know, Dad was also a cop," I point out to her.

"And?"

"Seeing Jake in his police uniform brought up memories of him, including that night."

Leah sighs, giving me a sad look, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Look at me." I do, and she continues, "It's not your fault." I nod. "Dad gave you an order and you took it because there was no disobeying the Chief of Police."

"I wish I had, though," I say. "Then he and Mom would still be alive."

"Then you'd be dead," Leah tells me. "We'd all be dead. Someone needed to protect the children, even if it meant sacrificing themselves. Mom and Dad knew what they were doing was dangerous, but they did it anyway. They did it to save us." She puts a hand on my shoulder, gazing into my eyes. "So don't think for one second that what happened eight years ago was your fault because it's not. It's those bad guys' fault. They made a choice and paid the price for it."

I smile and Leah wraps an arm around my shoulder as we head to our separate cars. We hug and say bye to one another and I get in my car. I turn on the engine and pull out of the parking lot and onto the road, making my way back to my babies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

Leah offered to drop the twins off at school on her way to class at the University of Washington, to which I said yes. I got up right when my alarm went off and got the twins ready. After Leah picked them up from my apartment and took them to school, I went back to sleep. Luckily, I had the day off today, but I still needed to run errands. So, I could only give myself another half hour of sleep before I had to wake up again.

The first thing on my list is buying Seth a present. His birthday is tomorrow, but since we can't be with him to celebrate, because he's thousands of miles away attending Stanford University in California, he's flying in the morning after and spending the weekend, staying with Leah at her apartment. When it comes to Christmas and his birthday, Seth is hard to shop for. As a kid, he was into video games and comic books, but now I don't know what he's into. I know he's attending school to become a lawyer, but I don't know what to get for someone like him. I decide to ask Leah about it later because she knows Seth better than me and Emily do.

The rest of my errands are just buying groceries and party supplies, even though it'll just be Seth, the twins, Leah, and Emily celebrating Seth's birthday. He does have a lot of friends, but they too are attending university in various states and therefore, can't make it to the party we'll be having at Emily's house, which used to be our parents', but was left to her in their will. It was actually left for all four of us, but Leah, Seth, nor I didn't want it.

By the time I'm done with my errands, it's time to pick up Charlotte and Susannah from school. But before I do, I drive home to put the groceries and party supplies away. I get back in my car and drive to the twins' school. I'm ten minutes away, on the freeway, when I hear sirens. I glance in my rear-view mirror to find a cop car tailing me.

"Crap," I mumble as I pull over to the side, turning off the engine and putting the car in park. I roll down my window and sit back in my seat, waiting for the cop to approach.

"License and registration, pl—" the cop, wearing sunglasses, says when he's at my window, but stops when he sees me in the driver's seat. "Bella?" He removes his sunglasses and my eyes widen in shock.

"Officer Black," I say. "Hi." It's the cop from last night. Jacob.

He grins down at me. "Please, call me Jake. Where you heading?"

"I was on my way to pick up my kids from school," I tell him.

"You have kids?"

"Yeah," I say. "Twin girls."

"So, you're married?" Jake asks, sounding disappointed.

"Oh, no," I shake my head. "I'm single."

He goes back to grinning. "Good. I mean—" He struggles to find the words, but after a moment, he clears his throat. "Sorry, back to being professional." He gestures to the back of my car. "One of your taillights is out. That's why I pulled you over."

"Oh," I say. "I didn't know. I will definitely get that fixed."

"Good," Jake is still grinning at me and I suddenly feel butterflies in my stomach. "Actually, now that I have you here, do you want to grab a cup of coffee sometime?"

I raise an eyebrow. "You're asking me out on a date? Here? Now?"

"Yeah, I guess," his grin turns sheepish. "You can say no. I mean, I'd be upset if you said no, because I thought we connected last night at the diner." He starts stuttering over his words, talking nonsense.

"I'd love to grab a coffee sometime with you," I blurt out, stopping Jake's rambling, before grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from the glove compartment. "Here is my number." I write it down and hand the paper to him. "You just let me know when and I'll be there."

"Okay, sure," Jake says, taking the piece of the paper with my number on it. "I'll definitely call you sometime. I'll maybe even send you some cute text messages with emojis." We both laugh at that. "Have a good day, Bella." With that, he turns around and heads back to his cop car. In my side mirror, I see him smile and wave before getting in the driver's seat. As he slowly drives past me, I wave at him and watch him as he increases his speed just a little, getting on the freeway and driving off.

I can't help but smile as I continue the drive to Charlotte and Susannah's school. The smile is plastered on my face as I see them walk out of the building with their aunt Emily, along with other kids in other grades. Emily frowns at me through the window as she slides open the back door. After saying hi to my girls and asking how their day went—to which they replied that it was good—Emily helps them in their car seats and buckles them in. She then gets out of my car, sliding the door closed, and goes over to the passenger window, where I roll it down.

"You seem happy," she says. "I'm guessing you ran into that cop from last night."

My smile falters. "How did you…?" I immediately know the answer. "Leah told you, didn't she?"

She smiles. "And I agree when she says you should go for him. You need a man in your life. Actually, we both do. Do you think Officer Black has a friend? When are you going out with him, anyway?"

"Okay, first of all," I start, raising a finger to stop her rambling. "I don't know if Jake has a friend because when I ran into him, it was because he pulled me over for a broken taillight and we didn't get into much conversation about whether or not he has a guy for you. Second, I don't know when I'm going out with him, but I did give him my number."

Emily squeals loudly, capturing the attention of little kids and parents nearby. She stops and takes a deep breath before letting it out. "Okay, I have to go, but when I see you again, it better be to tell me you have set a date with the handsome cop." I know she meant to say "hot," but there are children in the car so she had to change her wording.

The twins and I say bye to her and they wave as I pull out onto the road and drive home.


	3. Chapter 3

**So far, I am loving the positive feedback I'm getting with this story.** **I know some of you have questions, but don't worry, they will eventually get answered.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

"UNCLE SEFF!" the twins scream loudly as they drop their backpacks and run towards their uncle, who crouches down and opens his arms wide for them to run into. He gives them both a big hug, but when he tries to pull away, they cling to him. He laughs and lifts them up, carrying them toward the couch and sitting down with them on his lap.

Charlotte and Susannah, both four years old, know how to pronounce Seth's name, but when they were two, they could only say, "Seff," and since then, it's stuck. Seth doesn't mind, though. He still answers to "Uncle Seff," or even "Uncle Seffy."

It turns out, Seth took an earlier flight and landed in Seattle the night before. He surprised me by letting himself in my apartment—having known where I kept the spare key—while I had gone to drop the twins off at school. I came back home to find him sitting on the couch, watching TV. I was excited to see him, but also surprised, considering he still had classes to attend at Stanford. When I mentioned this to him, he told me they let him have the rest of the week off because it was his birthday. Lucky guy, but weird that they did that. Emily and Leah already knew Seth was in town because he texted them right after his plane landed at the airport and they went to pick him up.

The twins know their uncle's birthday is today, but they didn't know he was visiting for the weekend. So Seth and I—Leah and Emily were both busy with school—took the opportunity to plan a surprise for them. I was working a three-hour lunch shift, but Seth was driving Leah's car—which explained how he got to my apartment in the first place—so he wasn't sequestered in the apartment. Once my shift was over, the twins were just about to get out of school so I drove over there to pick them up. Seth had been out having lunch by himself—at a different restaurant—but he texted me to let me know he was on his way back to my apartment because that was how we were going to surprise the twins. He was going to be there, waiting for them.

From the looks on both their faces, Charlotte and Susannah are really happy Uncle Seff's here.

"How are my nieces doing?" Seth coos, tickling both their tummies, making them laugh. The twins start to babble about their day and Seth watches with fascination at how animate they're being, trying to understand what they're saying.

While the girls are occupied with their uncle, I head to the kitchen to prepare their favorite after-school snack, gathering the ingredients to make "ants on a log." I once made the snack using peanut butter but after the twins ate a few, Susannah suddenly couldn't breathe. After she was rushed to the hospital, it was at that point that I found out she had an allergic reaction to peanuts. She was then prescribed an EpiPen and since then, peanuts, and other types of nuts, have been banned from the apartment and even Leah's apartment and Emily's house. So instead of peanut butter, I use cream cheese.

I think back to my run-in with Jake yesterday. He wasn't kidding when he said he'll send me cute text messages with emojis. So far, I've received twenty of them. I don't know what I was thinking giving my phone number to Jake. Sure, he's handsome and all, but my children come first. But while a part of me puts my children first, another part does need to get out there and find someone. Someone who is loyal, trustworthy, and can be a great father figure to my girls. I've only known Jake a couple days and I can already see him being a father to Charlotte and Susannah, and any other future children we may have—that is if I decide I want to be with him.

So far, Charlotte and Susannah have not asked about their father, and I'm happy about that. After the girls were born, he'd come over every day to see them, but stopped after two months. I received a text from him, saying he couldn't be a father anymore because it was too much of a responsibility for him. A week later, he signed away his parental rights and I never heard from him again.

I head back to the living room where Seth and the twins are now play-wrestling, setting the plate of celery sticks on the coffee table. Charlotte and Susannah stop wrestling their uncle to the ground and get up to go enjoy their snack. Seth also gets up and goes over to sit down on the couch, catching his breath.

"Do you want some water?" I ask, laughingly.

He waves his hand. "I'm fine. Thanks, though."

I sit down beside him and turn on the TV to the children's cartoon channel, the remote sitting on the armrest of the couch. The twins join us, sitting on the floor by our feet, the plate of celery sticks between them.

"I went to go see them," Seth blurts out. I know exactly who he's talking about. "Before I came here, I stopped by the cemetery. It was actually the first thing I wanted to do once I arrived in Seattle, but it was late and I was tired. I saw the flowers were dying so I replaced them with fresh ones."

I turn my head and see Seth's eyes start to water, taking his hand in mine. He wipes his eyes with the back of his other hand.

"I think I made a mistake moving away and leaving you girls alone. I worry about you, Leah, and Emily when I'm at school. Hell, I even worry about Charlotte and Susannah. I still have nightmares about that night, but this time, it's only me that survives."

What happened eight years ago had left us all traumatized, Seth more than the rest of us. After all, he was just ten years old when our parents died.

"Do you remember what Emily told you when we were saying goodbye to you at the airport?" I ask.

"'If you ever get scared or lonely or just want to talk, don't hesitate to call either of us,'" Seth sighs. "'Even if it's the middle of the night.'"

"You can still do that," I tell him, wrapping an arm around him. "You didn't make a mistake, Sethy. You made a choice and a really good one. We weren't happy when you decided to leave us and attend college out of state, but we knew we couldn't stop you because it was what you wanted. We worry about you as well. You're the youngest, after all. There were even times when Emily wanted to fly over to California just to see how you were doing. Being the oldest, of course she'd be the overprotective one."

That brings a smile to his face. "I thought Leah was the overprotective one, but I guess not." We both laugh at that. Thankfully, the twins are too engrossed in their snack and watching cartoons to notice.

"I didn't get a chance to say this before," I say after we've calmed down, "but happy birthday, Sethy."

Seth turns to smile at me in a way of thanks before laying his head on my shoulder as we go back to watching cartoons with the twins, who by now have finished their snack.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry it took a while for me to update this story. I struggled writing the next chapter, but then after I was finally finished writing it, I realized the last one was so short, I might as well make it longer. So I deleted Chapter Four, added what would've been Chapter Five, and re-uploaded it. If that makes any sense.**

 **You'll finally find out what happened to Bella's dad and stepmom. And if you haven't figured it out yet, Charlotte and Susannah are named after their late grandparents.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

We had a lot of fun celebrating Seth's nineteenth birthday. We went out to dinner, met up at Emily's house, had cake—that Emily and the twins made themselves—and Emily, Leah, the twins, and I watched the birthday boy open his presents. Each of us got him something small while we all pitched in for his big present. There's this game called Fortnite that's become very popular around the world and I remembered Seth mentioned it once, during a Facetime call last week. At first, we were all reluctant to get him the game because Seth was in his first year of college and therefore, needed to focus on his studies, but we knew it's what he wanted. He was really happy he got the game and promised he'll focus on school and only play Fortnite on weekends.

And Seth has never broken a promise.

Charlotte and Susannah each made a really cute birthday card for their uncle. Each had drawn a picture of herself and him, holding hands, the words "Happy," written on the top, and "Birthday," written on the bottom. Inside the cards were little handwritten notes and although both the twins' writing was messy, Seth was still able to make out what they said.

Jacob had called me after I put the twins to bed, but I didn't answer because my phone was on silent so I could spend time with my family. I knew he called me because I saw I had a missed call when I turned on my phone to check the time and recognized his number, having not yet saved it in my contacts. When I mentioned this to Emily, Leah, and Seth, you could guess what Emily's reaction was.

"Call him back," she practically demanded. "I'm pretty sure the reason why Officer Hottie called was so he can finally ask you out."

"I don't want to call him back," I told her. "I want to spend time with my family and catch up."

"And what we want is for you to find a man because you need one," Emily said. "Especially when you are raising two kids by yourself. They need a father and you need someone who is faithful and will cater to your every need." Leah nodded in agreement while Seth just looked confused.

"Who's Officer Hottie?" he asked.

I was about to say something, but Leah beat me to it. "His real name is Jacob Black and he's a cop, just like Dad was. He stopped by the diner the other day for a cup of coffee and had a nice little chat with Bella." She winked at me. "But then he left because he had to work the night shift."

"Leah!" I stared at her, appalled. Leah just shrugged, smiling sheepishly at me.

"Did he work with Dad?" Seth asked.

"No," I answered, shaking my head. "But Dad was his mentor. Jake wanted to become a cop after high school and Dad helped him go through with it. Jake was going to tell Dad he got into the Police Academy, but it was too late."

Neither of us didn't say anything after that. I was staring down at the ground, Seth and Leah were doing the same, and I felt Emily's gaze on me.

"You know, it's not your fault," she said after a while.

"I know," I murmured, playing with my hands. Leah, who was sitting beside me on the couch, placed her hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"We don't blame you for what happened to our mom," Emily continued. "If it was just her, Seth, Leah, and I, she would've told either one of us to get the others out of there if the same thing happened to us."

I lifted my head, meeting her gaze, and smiled. "Sue was a kind, strong, beautiful woman. She didn't deserve to die."

"It was a sacrifice she was willing to make," Leah said and I turned to smile at her. "She would've done anything to protect her children, even if one of them is not biologically hers."

"I'm just glad those two A-holes are dead," Seth muttered. "Serves them right for thinking they can shoot their way out of a dangerous situation." We all nodded in agreement at that.

"So, about Officer Hottie," Emily said, changing the subject. "Call him back or at the very least, send him a text. You have his number. Use it."

I sighed and grabbed my phone from the table. I unlocked it and sent Jacob a text, but not before adding him to my contacts.

* * *

And that is how I ended up at a fancy Italian restaurant the next night, sitting at a table across from Jacob, wearing a fit-and-flare black dress—that I borrowed from Emily—with matching black pumps—also borrowed from Emily. She came over an hour before to help me get ready and to take the twins back to her house, where they'll be spending the night. When Jake came to pick me up, Emily went into "parent mode," pestering him with questions and threatening to _personally_ give him a vasectomy if he ever hurt me in the future.

Jake didn't say anything on our way to the restaurant, but he had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"I'm sorry about Emily," I apologized, reaching over the console to take his hand in mine, squeezing it gently. "Being the oldest, she's kind of the parent of the family."

Jake's only reply was turning to glance at me briefly with a reassuring smile on his face.

"And whoever wins gets a brand-new, flat-screen TV," Jake says, cutting a small piece of the chocolate cake with his fork and bringing it to his lips, taking a bite. He savors the piece for a moment before swallowing it. "So far, I'm in the lead. I have to win because the TV I have now is an old, standard one my family has had for years. I'm surprised it still works."

"I think that's really cool that you're doing that," I praise him. "I should start driving over the speed limit just so I could help you out."

Jake laughs. "You should, but then you'd have to pay for all of them. Not to mention, you'd eventually get into an accident."

"That's true," I nod.

We had just finished dinner and are now sharing a slice of chocolate cake for dessert. Jake was just telling me about a contest going on at the police station to see who can give out the most speeding tickets by the end of the month. The majority of our dinner was spent getting to know each other. I learned so much about Jake and will probably continue to learn something new about him every day. For instance, when he's not out catching criminals or writing citations, he's volunteering at a children's hospital. I could just picture him reading a book to a sick child and the look of awe on Emily's face when I tell her about Jake and his charity work.

"Yep, he is definitely father material," she'd tell me.

"What about you?" Jake asks, bringing me back to the present. "I've been talking nonstop about myself, you must be bored out of your mind."

Now it's my turn to laugh. "Don't worry, I'm not." I cut a small piece of the cake with my fork and bring it to my lips, taking a bite, savoring it before swallowing. "You already know I'm a waitress and that I have two children who are twins. And that I'm the daughter of the late Chief of Police."

Jake nods. "Yes, I met your daughters and the diner was where we first met. I came in for a cup of coffee and saw you in your waitress uniform."

"I remember," I say. "And then after I introduced myself, you told me you knew my dad."

He smiles sadly before reaching across the table to take my hand in his. "He really was a good man." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "I read the report. I'm really sorry about what happened. He didn't deserve to die and neither did your mom. I'm just glad those two men who murdered them are dead. Shooting at a bunch of cops was the stupidest thing to do."

As always, when I talk about my dad and Sue or hear other people talk about them, I feel tears well up in my eyes. I wipe them away with my other hand and give Jake a small smile. "Sue was actually my stepmom, but still a mom. And a woman who was just collateral damage."

"All because your dad had helped put away a man who raped and murdered a seventeen-year-old girl," he recollects. "And then that man died in prison."

"And his brother sent those two men to murder my dad out of revenge," I add. "They busted down the front door and got to my stepmom first because she was downstairs in the kitchen, while the rest of us were upstairs. My dad was putting my stepbrother to bed while my stepsisters and I were already in bed, asleep, when we heard screaming and gunshots."

"The report said you and your siblings managed to escape and call for help," Jake says. "How?"

"My dad told me to get them out of there before they came for him," I explain. "It was an order and when the Chief of Police gives you an order, you must follow it, no questions asked."

Silence falls between us as Jake just stares at me, adoringly, rubbing small circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. "Tell me more about yourself," he says after a while.

I know he's trying to change the subject and I feel better about that. I take a deep breath and let it out. "Well, after what happened, Emily became our legal guardian since she was eighteen at the time. She did her best at raising me, my stepbrother, Seth, and my other stepsister, Leah, until we were old enough to take care of ourselves. Even though I wasn't actually related to them, they thought of me as their real sister." I smile at the thought before it suddenly fades. "I always thought they blamed me for what happened to their mom, but they really don't."

"What about your kids? What can you tell me about them?" Jake asks.

The thought of talking about my girls has me smiling again. "I was just sixteen years old when I found out I was pregnant. The twins' father was this rich, spoiled seventeen-year-old boy I had gone on one date with before losing my virginity to him that same night. It was a mistake but getting pregnant wasn't. Even though I was still young and had big dreams, I was looking forward to being a mom. I was willing to sacrifice my future for my children.

"Emily, Leah, and Seth were surprisingly happy when I told them I was pregnant. They even helped set up the nursery, purchasing the necessities like a crib, changing table, baby clothes, anything that my babies would need. When I told their father I was pregnant, he was disappointed at first, but then warmed up to the idea of being a father. We weren't in a relationship or anything, but he was there throughout my whole pregnancy and the twins' birth. I named them Charlotte and Susannah after my parents." I go on to tell Jake about the twins' father coming over to see them every day after they were born, only to just stop because he felt like partying and sleeping around was more important than raising two children. That's my assumption, anyway.

"He was an idiot for doing that," Jake tells me. "It was like he gave up when he could've tried harder."

I nod, agreeing with him. "That's what I think, too."

He just chuckles before moving on. "I would love to meet Leah and Seth one day. I already met Emily and she seems nice." He shudders at the last part. "And your daughters are adorable. I've never met their father, but they look more like you than they do him."

I smile sheepishly. "Thanks. They do, actually. It's like I'm looking at two younger versions of myself."

Jake returns my smile with one of his own. "I like your smile. It's so cute."

I can't help but laugh at his compliment, but soon regret it. When I laugh, it's more like a snort. Jake doesn't seem to notice because he's too busy being mesmerized by my beauty.

We go back to finishing the rest of the chocolate cake in silence before Jake signals for the check. When I reach for my bag underneath the table, he stops me.

"I got this," he says, taking out his wallet from the pocket of his dress pants. I try to protest, but he puts a hand up. "It's okay. Apparently, it's customary for the gentleman to pay for dinner, which I don't mind doing."

"Thanks," I tell him. The waiter comes by with the check and a credit/debit card machine. Jake doesn't need the machine because he grabs a few bills from his wallet and hands it to the waiter.

"Thanks for coming," the waiter smiles, taking the bills from Jake. "Have a good night."

With that, we leave the restaurant and once we're outside, Jake hands his ticket to the valet, who takes it before going to the parking lot beside the restaurant to get Jake's car.

The ride back to my apartment is silent but comfortable. While Jake is keeping his eyes on the road, I gaze out the window at the night sky, suddenly feeling tired. Yawning, I turn to glance at the clock on the stereo. It's only ten fifteen, but it feels like it's later than that.

"Tired?" Jake asks, reaching over the console to take my hand in his.

I nod. "Yeah. I've never actually been out this late. I'm usually in bed by ten."

"Well, I'm glad you went on this date with me," he says.

My only reply is turning to smile at him, even though he can't really see it.

When Jake pulls up beside my building, he turns off the engine and gets out of the car, going around to open the passenger door for me. Grabbing my bag off the ground, I get out and he closes the door behind me.

"I had a really nice time tonight," I say as we cross the courtyard to get to my apartment.

"Me too," Jake tells me. "I don't like where you're living by the way. This place doesn't seem safe and secure."

"It's the only place I can afford," I tell him.

"But you could live someplace better and nicer," Jake says. "I happen to know where."

I turn around to face him once we've reached my door. "It's still too soon for me to move in with you."

He laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "That's not what I mean. There's this single-family home that was just put up for sale. It's in a safe neighborhood, open-concept, and there's a lot of amenities for you and your daughters. The price is really high, but I'm sure if I talk to the owner, who happens to be a good friend of mine, he's willing to negotiate."

I purse my lips. "I don't know. I like where I'm currently living. Sure, it's not safe, but I like it."

"Will you at least think about it?" Jake practically begs. "How about this? I take you to go check out the place and then you can think about it."

"Okay," I concur. Changing the subject, I gesture to my front door. "Well, I guess I'll be going inside now." I don't move, though, because I know what's about to happen next.

Jake takes a step closer to me, pretending to be sad. "But I don't want you to. Not yet, anyway."

I stutter as I gaze at his delectable full lips. "But I, uh, I have to get to bed. The twins have school the next day."

"No, they don't," Jake says, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. "If I recall, it's the weekend and your daughters are spending the night at Emily's house." Damn, I do remember telling him that last part. "Try again."

"I have gas." It comes out like a question instead of a statement. I mentally kick myself. _Smooth Swan. Real smooth._

Jake reaches up to place a hand on my left cheek. "Bella, is there a reason why you don't want me to kiss you? Because I've been looking forward to it since the beginning of our date. Actually, I've been looking forward to it since we met."

I gaze into his beautiful brown eyes. "I just don't want to move too fast."

"Because of what happened last time you went on a date?"

I nod.

Jake chuckles. "Then why didn't you say so? I would've been fine with taking things slow. But a kiss here and there wouldn't hurt."

"I guess you're right," I tell him.

"So, can I kiss you now?" he asks, leaning in close until his lips are inches from mine, his hand still on my cheek.

I nod and with that, Jake kisses me. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's enough to make my knees go weak. He pulls away with a smile on his face.

"How was that?"

It takes me a moment to answer because I feel a little flushed from the kiss. "Amazing," I smile back at him.

"Good," he practically whispers, placing his hand back on my cheek, grazing a thumb over my swollen lips. "That's good."

We stand there, gazing at each other, neither of us saying anything. "So, I guess I'll let you go then," Jake finally says, taking a step back. "Good night, Bella."

"Night," I tell him, giving him a small wave as I watch him turn on his heel and walk away. Once he's out of sight, I grab my keys from my bag and turn to unlock the door. Entering my apartment, I close the door behind me, locking it, and head straight down the hall toward my bedroom but not before turning on the hall light and taking off my heels. Turning off the hall light and turning on my bedroom light, I start getting ready for bed.

Changed into a pair of comfortable pajamas with my teeth brushed and face washed, I climb into my bed and drift off to sleep, dreaming of Jacob and the life we could have together.


	5. Chapter 5

**My goal as a fanfiction writer is to write at least 1,000 words for each chapter of a story or a one-shot, if not more than that. But sometimes I find it to be very hard.**

 **This is more of a filler chapter, and I only proofread it once—instead of the usual two or three times—but I hope you still enjoy.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

Emily came over early the next morning, while I was still asleep. I woke up to find her sitting at my desk in the corner of my room, eating a bowl of Cheerios. I was starting to regret leaving the spare key underneath one of the flowerpots sitting outside my apartment. The only reason why I did that was because I was always losing my apartment keys, but I haven't done that in months. It took me a while to realize I could just attach them to my car keys. Then again, if I lost my apartment keys, I lost the keys to my car.

Emily didn't even bother to say, "Good morning," to me. Just "So, how'd your date with the hot cop go?" After I freaked out because she left the twins alone back at her place, only to let out a relieved sigh when she told me Seth was with them, I went on to tell her that my date with Jake went well and that he invited me to look at a house that's up for sale because he didn't like where I was currently living.

"It's about time," Emily said after I was finished speaking. She gestured around her. "This is not the place for you and your kids to live in. While the inside is nice, the outside looks so old and worn down, the whole building looks like it could collapse at any moment. Not to mention, there's been a lot of break-ins lately in this neighborhood so of course it's unsafe."

"You're right," I agreed. "It just so happens I've been saving a lot of money to buy a house so I think this is the perfect time to look for one."

The rest of the morning was spent having girl talk with Emily while we ate breakfast. Even though the twins weren't home, I still made chocolate chip pancakes because that's what I always did for them every Saturday and Sunday morning. I just made them into regular round shapes instead of Mickey Mouse. It was around noon that Emily left and Seth texted me, asking if he could keep the twins for a while longer, to which I said yes. After all, he was only in Seattle until tomorrow night, and I wanted him to spend as much "uncle time" as he could with Charlotte and Susannah.

I had a nice, chill afternoon by myself. I had the weekend off from work, so I had time to clean up the house and do laundry and just have "me time." Throughout the afternoon, Seth sent me pictures of the twins and what they were all doing. Apparently, there was some sort of kids' event going on in downtown Seattle that he took them to. They had things like arts and crafts, games the kids—and even the adults—could play, and even cookie decorating, as well as food vendors. I don't always keep up with current events so I wasn't surprised or upset that I didn't know there was a kids' event going on. I wouldn't take my girls to one, anyway, because it'd be hard to keep up with them when they're running all over the place, fighting over who wants to do what first.

The last text Seth sent me shocked and surprised me. He sent me a picture of himself with one of the cops on patrol at the event. And it was none other than Officer Jacob Black. Seth told me, via text, that Jake approached them because he saw the girls from a distance and recognized them from last night when he came to pick me up for our date and met them. They introduced themselves and just got to talking. I hoped and prayed that Seth wasn't embarrassing me by sharing embarrassing stories about my life growing up with him, Emily, and Leah. Because if he did, he'd be flying back to California in a wheelchair.

I could understand why Jake didn't tell me about the kids' event. While he spent most of our date talking about himself, he didn't mention anything about it because he must've forgotten. He only talked about his family, hobbies, the volunteer work he does at the children's hospital, etc. But not about the event.

By the time evening rolled around, Leah and Emily came over at the same time Seth did with the twins. I made us all dinner and afterward, we watched a movie on Netflix. By the time the credits started rolling, both Charlotte and Susannah were getting sleepy so Emily helped me get them ready for bed.

After the twins went to sleep, Emily and I went back to the living room to join Leah and Seth. We just hung out and talked and I told Seth and Leah what I told Emily. While Seth was happy that I was thinking about buying a house, Leah's reaction was different. She jumped up from the couch and yelled, "Finally!", while hitting the air with her fist. Thankfully, the twins were passed out in their beds. They're both such heavy sleepers, I have to gently shake them in order to wake them up.

"It's about time you moved," Leah told me, repeating Emily's words. "I never liked this place, anyway, and I was hoping that one day, you'd see just how awful it is and move someplace better."

"When is Jake taking you to go check it out?" Seth asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "He didn't say so I don't know."

"Will you be able to afford it?" Leah asked, sitting back down on the couch. "Buying a house can be really expensive. You'd have to be filthy rich in order to be able to afford one."

"Not true," Emily spoke. "There are some houses listed for sale between five to nine hundred dollars."

"But that's only if you get a fixer-upper," Leah argued.

"Again, not true," Emily said. "Even some fully-renovated houses are between those prices."

"I actually wouldn't mind a fixer-upper," I broke the tension that I felt was starting to rise. "At least I can make it my dream home. Like Mom and Dad did with theirs."

We all smiled at the memory. It wasn't until my dad and Sue got engaged that they bought a fixer-upper and started turning it into their dream home and it wasn't until they got married nine months later that we all moved in. Neither me nor my stepbrother and stepsisters could understand why it took a long time for all of us to live together, but we figured it was just an agreement our parents made.

"Didn't they do the renovations themselves?" Leah asked.

I laughed. "Yeah, but only because Dad didn't want to waste money on a _professional_ contractor."

"But the house turned out great," Seth added. "And there was a lot that they did."

"Don't you get lonely, living in that house by yourself?" I asked Emily.

She shook her head. "Not really. I enjoy the large, quiet space and there's a lot for the girls to play whenever they come over."

"But aren't you afraid of someone breaking in and robbing you?" Leah asked. "Or worse, murdering you in your sleep?"

"Nope," Emily shook her head again. "Although, I have an alarm system installed, there hasn't been any break-ins since we cleaned up the place after Mom and Dad died. I wanted to sell it since it brings back the painful memory of that night, but they worked hard turning what used to be an old, abandoned wreck into their dream home. And the girls love the place because of the large space and the fact that they each have their own bedroom, though, I always find them the next morning, sleeping in the same room."

"It's a twin thing," I explained. "They stick together, even when they don't have to."

"Because if they're separated, they become anxious and start to miss the other person," Leah added. "I remember when I only took Charlotte out for ice cream, Susannah freaked out because she wanted to go too, but she had the flu. And while Charlotte was excited for ice cream, she was badly missing her sister, even if it was only for a few hours. But when I told Charlotte that we could bring home a small carton of vanilla ice cream for her sister, because that's Susannah's favorite, as well as hers, she was smiling again."

"I will eventually put the house up for sale," Emily changed the subject. "But right now, I'm not ready to move just yet."

I was about to say something when my phone beeped, indicating I received a text message. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and both Leah and Emily giggled, while Seth just stared at me with a blank look on his face, as I checked to see who it was.

"Is that Jacob?" Seth spoke for the first time in a while.

I nodded with a smile on my face.

 **Hey, beautiful. I hope I didn't disturb you.**

I sent him a reply.

 **You didn't. I'm just at home, hanging out with my stepbrother and stepsisters. What's up?**

Less than a minute later, Jake texted me back.

 **I wanted to see if you're free tomorrow morning at ten to look at the house I told you about. I know it's early, but I talked with my friend, the owner, and he wants to meet you. This is the only time he can.**

"Jake wants me to look at the house tomorrow morning," I told Seth, Leah, and Emily.

"Do you need me to watch the twins?" Emily asked. "Or Leah and I could."

"No, it's fine," I said. "I'll take them with me. That way, I can get their opinions on the house. I just have to ask Jake if I can bring them."

 **It's fine. Can I bring my daughters?**

 **Sure, and perhaps I can take you all out for brunch afterwards,** Jake texted me, a smiley face emoji at the end of his text message.

 **That'd be nice.**

"What's he saying?" Leah asked with a smile on her face.

"He said I can bring the twins with me to go check out the house," I said. "And that he might take us all out for brunch afterwards."

"Aww," both Leah and Emily cooed.

 **So, I'll pick you and your daughters up at nine thirty tomorrow morning?** Jake asked, via text.

 **Sure,** I replied.

"Looks like I'll be seeing Jake again tomorrow morning," I announced, making Leah once again jump up with excitement.

We spent the rest of the night talking about other things, like how well Seth was doing at college and that he met a girl, but it's not serious. Both Leah, Emily, and I were both happy and upset for him. Happy because he has a girlfriend and upset that he didn't tell us right away. Whenever something big happens to Seth while he's away, he immediately tells us, no matter how boring it is. It was around midnight that my stepbrother and stepsisters left, but not before scheduling to meet up at our favorite family restaurant for dinner before Seth has to leave for the airport.


	6. Chapter 6

**Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

I didn't need to wake the girls up to get them ready to go meet Jake's friend because right when my alarm went off, they came barreling into my room, wide awake and full of energy. Now they're watching morning cartoons in the living room after I made them their favorite weekend breakfast, all three of us dressed and ready to go. As I was getting the girls ready, I told them we're meeting Jake's friend to look at a house he put up for sale because we might be moving soon. They didn't seem excited but they weren't upset either. I guess they simply didn't understand what moving would mean for them.

I'm cleaning up in the kitchen when I hear a knock on the door. Wiping my hands on a dish towel, I go answer it, knowing exactly who is on the other side. When I open the door, Jake is standing outside, looking handsome and wearing his police uniform. While I want to take things slow with him, I can't help but imagine _very_ provocative things he could do to me in bed—while wearing said uniform—and vice versa.

"Bella, Bella," Jake snaps his fingers in front of my face, breaking me out of my sexual fantasy. He grins and I think he knows, by the aroused look on my face, I've been thinking about him like _that,_ even though he asks, "Where'd you go just now?"

"Nowhere," I lie before changing the subject. "It's nice to see you again. Come in." I give him space to do so and when he walks past me, I could smell his minty breath and the Axe body spray he's wearing. I know it's Axe because Seth wears that, too. Jake's hand also lightly brushes against mine, making me tingle.

"Hi, Mr. Jacob!" the girls call in unison from the couch.

"Ladies," Jake grins, bowing his head as if greeting the Queen of England. "I thought I told you to call me Jake."

The twins giggle and it's Charlotte who says, "Sorry, _Jake._ "

Turning to me, Jake asks, "Ready to go?"

I nod. "I just need to get the twins' car seats." Looking at him up and down, I ask, "You're not driving the cruiser, are you?"

He laughs. "No, I'm driving my Prius. But I do have to be at work by one. The chief called just as I was leaving my apartment, but I told him I was already in the middle of doing something."

"Oh, okay. I just thought maybe you were wearing your uniform for my benefit," I can't help but smile sheepishly.

Jake leans down to whisper in my ear. "Is that why you looked so aroused a moment ago? Were you having a sexual fantasy about me in my uniform, Bella? Because I thought you wanted to take things slow." He kisses the outer shell of my ear. Thankfully, the twins have gone back to watching cartoons.

Before things can escalate further, I turn my attention to Charlotte and Susannah. "Girls, time to go. Turn off the TV and come put on your shoes."

The girls groan but do as I say. At four years old, they know how to tie their shoes, although they're slow at it. Luckily, I'm a patient person. Most of the time, anyway. Once we're all ready to go, the girls and I follow Jake out the door and I lock it.

I go to my car in the parking lot to grab the twins' car seats. Jake runs over to help me out when he sees me carrying one under each arm to his car, where he and the twins are waiting. I help him attach the seats to the backseat of his car. The twins get in and I buckle Charlotte in while Jake does the same with Susannah.

According to the GPS in Jake's car, it's about a twenty-minute drive from the apartment to his friend's house. Jake tells me his friend is name Paul Lahote and he's a fellow cop who just finished building his new house in the new neighborhood that just opened up. Jake tells me that the house we're looking at is fully furnished, but I could sell or donate the furniture and décor or Paul can take them if I don't want them.

"I actually know Paul Lahote," I blurt out. "My father was the Chief of Police after all so anyone who knew him knows his daughter."

"Oh, that's right," Jake says. "I forgot. Then I'm guessing you know Officer Sam Uley?"

"Yeah, he was first on the scene of my parents' accident" I tell him. While the twins both know that my parents are "up in heaven," they don't know the real reason. I'll eventually explain it to them when they're older, but right now, they're still too young to know what really happened to Grandma and Grandpa.

"He also has a crush on Emily," I add. And Emily asked me if Jake had a friend for her when she knew it'd be Sam.

"He's the new chief now," Jake says.

I turn to look at him, my mouth hanging open in shock, even though he can't see it because his eyes are focused on the road. "I thought Mac was the new chief."

"He _was_ the new chief after your father passed away," Jake says. "But then he moved away last month with his family and therefore, transferred to another station. Sam was in the running to become the new chief and he got it."

"Wow," is all I can say. "I'll have to stop by the station one day and say hi to everyone. I'm sure they all miss me."

"Why'd you stop?" Jake asks, glancing at me briefly.

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. Priorities, I guess. I used to buy donuts for everyone from a local donut shop, which is such a stereotype, but everyone loved them. Of course I had to buy the diabetic-friendly ones from a specialty shop for Officer Call."

"Well, they definitely miss you," Jake tells me. "They call you the Donut Girl."

I can't help but laugh at that.

The twins are asleep by the time we pull up beside Paul's house. I explain to Jake that sometimes on long car rides—even though this one wasn't that long—the girls tend to get tired and fall asleep.

"I can stay with them while you go take a look," Jake offers.

I shake my head. "It's okay. We can just carry them."

Paul is waiting for us at the front door when we greet him, me carrying Charlotte, Jake carrying Susannah. Like Jake, Paul is wearing his police uniform. "Nice to see you again, Bella," He smiles at me. "And I see you brought the kiddos." He gestures to the sleeping twins. "They're growing up so fast. I think last time I saw them, it was two months ago and you brought them with you to the station." He shudders at the memory and I know why. "I never should've let them play with my handcuffs."

I giggle. "You had something to show me."

Paul stands up straight, smoothing down his uniform. He turns around and opens the front door, moving to one side to let me enter.

"I still have the picture, by the way," I say, quietly, as I walk past him and I turn to see the horrified look on his face.

* * *

"So, what'd you think about the place?" Jake asks, taking a sip of his coffee. We had spent approximately two hours at Paul's house with him giving me a tour and just me and him catching up afterwards while Jake took the twins, who had woken up at that point, for a walk around the neighborhood. Apparently, there was a park nearby where the girls can run around and play.

Paul and I didn't really negotiate on a price because I wanted to think about it first. He said he'll take the house off the market and put it on hold for me until I come to a decision. I told him he didn't have to that—because I was sure there were other people who want to buy his house and have been putting in offers—but he said he'd rather sell me the house than sell it to someone else, no matter what price we end up negotiating on.

"I like it," I tell Jake, taking a sip of my coffee. "It's bigger than Emily's, there's lots of space and you were right about the neighborhood being safe. There's also walking trails and even the park nearby that I can take the girls to."

"That's good," Jake says. "So, how is it all those times you came by the station, we never met then?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Maybe because you were always out in the field."

"Maybe," Jake agrees. "But I would still hear stories and the way the other cops talked about you. That's when I knew I had to meet you and I'm glad I did." He gives me what I now call his special smile that makes my knees go weak.

I gaze into his eyes and am suddenly lost in them. It's only when I hear giggling that I realize we're not alone. We're sitting in a booth at a brunch place with Charlotte beside me and Jake across from us, Susannah sitting beside him. Even though the twins had pancakes for breakfast, they were still hungry and it just so happened that we were about to pass the brunch place. While Jake ordered a hefty breakfast plate, I ordered a fruit salad and two kid-size breakfast plates for Charlotte and Susannah.

"What are you two giggling about?" I ask my daughters, smirking.

"Nothing, Mommy," Susannah says, trying to stifle her giggles.

I raise my eyebrows, but don't pester any further. I turn my attention back to Jake. "So, I'm guessing Sam knows you went on a date with Charlie Swan's daughter?"

Jake suddenly looks squeamish. "He knows we met, but I still haven't told him we went on a date. But since then, he's been giving me the stink eye and watching me like a hawk. I mean, I know he's my boss and all, but I'm not the only one who works for him."

"That makes sense," I say. "Sam's like a brother to me and my step-siblings so of course when it comes to boys, he's very protective of Leah, Emily, and I. Since our parents died, Sam helped us out any way he could. He helped Emily with guardianship papers and also helped her get a part-time job since she was in her first year of college. He drove Leah, Seth, and I to school when Emily couldn't. He was more like a third or fourth parent to us than a brother.

"Sam even offered to help us find a place to live, but Emily told him that even after what happened, we still wanted to continue to live in our parents' house because they left it to us and worked hard on building it." I suddenly perk up. "I have an idea. Why don't the girls and I come with you to the station? That way, I can say hi to Sam and everyone else."

"How will you get home?" Jake asks.

"Emily will pick me up," I say. "Or Leah. Any of them will do. Leah will probably want to meet you, though. She's the only one who hasn't."

"Sounds like a plan then," he grins. "Do we need to stop by the donut shop?"

"Might as well," I say. "I have a feeling the first thing Sam will say to me is 'Where are our donuts?'" We both laugh at that.

* * *

As soon as I walked into the station with two boxes of a dozen donuts in each—plus one extra box of diabetic-friendly donuts for Officer Call—every cop stopped what they were doing and turned their attention toward the doorway, gasping when they saw me standing there with Jake and the girls.

"Not the reaction I was expecting," I whispered to Jake as everyone just stared at me, their mouths agape. "Are they okay? They look like they've just seen a ghost."

"They're fine," Jake assured me. "They're just shocked, that's all."

"Why did everyone stop working all of a sudden?" Sam's voice boomed as he came out of his office. His eyes widened when he saw me. "Bella?"

"Hi, Sam," I said, smiling weakly. "I brought donuts." I held up the boxes.

Before I knew it, every cop in the room, minus Sam and Jake, was greeting me all at once, pestering me with questions as to how I'm doing and why I stopped coming by to visit. It was when Sam told them to get back to work in his authoritative voice that they did. He then greeted me with open arms and after we hugged, I gave him the donuts, telling him that one of the boxes is labelled "DF" for Officer Call.

"Why don't we catch up in my office?" Sam said, placing the boxes on a nearby table. "Kim can look after the twins. And Jake?" Jake, who was still standing beside me, straightened up. "I need you to patrol the freeway. Given how many people are speeding down there, it just might increase your chance of winning that TV."

"Yes, sir," Jake nodded before turning to me. "I'll see you later?" He placed a chaste kiss on my lips and I could've sworn I heard growling coming from Sam.

I smiled and nodded and with that, Jake left, but not before saying goodbye to Charlotte and Susannah.

While everyone else was enjoying their donuts and the twins were being looked after by Officer Cameron, Sam and I spent hours in his office, talking and catching up. It made sense that everyone on the force missed me dearly. I am after all the daughter of the late Charlie Swan, who was a legend and loved by everyone in and outside the force. Sam and I also talked about my relationship with Jake, although Jake and I have not yet discussed what we are. I told Sam about the date Jake and I went on Friday.

"He's a really great guy," I couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "And the girls like him. So do Seth, Emily and Leah, even though she hasn't met him yet."

"Of course Jake's a great guy," Sam said. "You wouldn't be dating him if he wasn't. What I want to know is if you two are taking things slow. While I would love to be an uncle for the third time, I don't want to see you hurt again and you and Jake should take the time to get to know each other first before you jump into bed."

"We are taking things slow," I said. "I told Jake that's what I wanted and he told me he's okay with that."

Sam just looked skeptical. "I do hope so because I am his boss and you are like a sister to me so if I find out he hurt you in any way, I will castrate him."

I know he meant it as a joke, but I still feared for Jake's safety.


	7. Chapter 7

**My** **sincere apologies for not updating. I had so many ideas for this chapter, I had trouble choosing just one.** **The next few chapters have already been written. I just need to proofread them. Usually I write a chapter, post it, and then get started on the next one. So this is the first time I've already had chapters written.**

 **I made a mistake a couple chapters back. Emily said that there are some houses listed for sale between five to nine hundred dollars. I meant to put five to nine hundred THOUSAND dollars as it's impossible to buy a house worth only nine hundred. Unless it's some ratty, old shack.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

"Girls! Not so far!" I practically yell. The twins are way ahead of us, running towards the next exhibit. They stop and wait for Jake and I to catch up to them. "I thought I told you to stay close," I scold them.

They bow their heads in shame. "Sorry, Mommy," they murmur in unison.

I smile sadly before pulling my girls closer to me, getting down so I'm at their eye level and taking both their hands in mine. They lift their heads to meet my gaze. "Do you know why I told you to stay close to Mommy and Jake?"

"So we don't get lost?" Charlotte guesses.

I nod. "That's right. Because if you got lost, Mommy would be very sad. You don't want Mommy to be sad, do you?"

"No, Mommy," they say. "We don't want you to be sad."

"Then are you going to run off again?" The twins shake their heads. "Are you going to stay close to Mommy and Jake?" They nod. "Good. Now go have fun."

They give me a hug before turning on their heel and running toward the exhibit that's just in front of us.

"You're a good mom," Jake praises, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me against his side, kissing my temple before moving to whisper in my ear. "And a very gorgeous one, too." He kisses along the outer shell.

I giggle, playfully pushing him away. "Officer Black, there are children present."

He just chuckles, moving to kiss the top of my head.

My work schedule alters between part-time and full-time—while Leah works evenings three days a week since she's in school. So when Jake asked me out on another date, I had to decline because I was working a full forty-hour week. However, that didn't stop him from coming by the diner every day that I was working and taking advantage of the cop's discount we have. While he was mostly by himself, either Officer Lahote or Officer Jared Cameron, Kim's husband, was sometimes with him, also taking advantage of the discount.

On my last work day of the week, Jake once again asked me out on a date and once again, I had to decline because I was taking the twins to the children's museum. But then I asked him if he'd like to join us and he said he'd love to.

The museum's busy what with it being a Saturday. The twins have been here before, on a school field trip just last week, and they loved it so I figured I'd bring them myself. While I don't like to take them to places where there's a lot of people, I don't want to be that kind of mom who doesn't take her children anywhere and instead, just keeps them sequestered inside the house. Also, Seth's back in California, Leah's working, and Emily is on a lunch date with Officer—or I should say, Chief—Uley. When she came to pick me and the girls up from the station that day we came to visit my dad's old colleagues, Sam went from being the commanding Chief of Police to bashful, like a dorky teenager with a crush on the prettiest girl he's ever seen. It was then that he _finally_ asked Emily out on a date, but they could only do lunch as they both had busy schedules.

After spending a couple hours at the museum, I tell the girls it's time to leave and we head outside to my car. After buckling them in their car seats, I drive us to our family's favorite restaurant for lunch.

* * *

An old friend of my dad and Sue's owned a restaurant called Ateara's before it was passed down to his son after he died last year. It was where my parents had their first date and where we had our first family outing. Even after they died, Emily, Leah, Seth and I still went to Ateara's, only because Leah—although she'll never admit it—had a crush on the son, Quil Ateara V. His grandfather happens to be the principal of the twins' school.

The restaurant is surprisingly empty when we walk in, with a few customers here and there.

"Hi, Bella," the day hostess, Kate, greets us. "Your usual table?"

I nod. "Yes, please."

Kate grabs two menus and two kids' menus with crayons for coloring and we follow her as she shows us to our table. Once we're all seated, the twins start grabbing crayons from the small plastic cups, coloring on their paper menus while Kate goes back to the hostess stand.

"Bella!" Quil emerges from the kitchen at the back. "It's nice to see you again."

"Hi, Quil," I smile up at him as he approaches our table. "It's nice to see you, too."

"What's it going to be this time?" he asks. "If it's the veggie lasagna, it's only available for dinner. But for you, I'll make an exception." He whispers this last part to me.

"Oh, no thank you," I say. "I'm sure I'll like whatever's on the lunch menu."

Quil just smiles before turning his attention to Jake, sitting across from me. "Is that the hot cop you kept bragging about the other night?" he murmurs to me.

"Yes," I murmur back.

"You must be Jake," Quil says, rather loudly, sticking his hand out. "I've heard so much about you. Quil Ateara, the fifth. I'm the owner of this very fine, _legal_ establishment."

Jake shakes Quil's hand with his own. "It's nice to meet you."

Quil pulls away, turning his attention to the twins. "Hey, girls." He reaches up to ruffle Susannah's—who is sitting beside me—hair.

"Hi, Uncle Gil," the twins say in unison, mispronouncing Quil's name and looking up from their coloring.

Quil, ignoring their mispronunciation, mock whispers, "Don't tell Mommy but there's chocolate cake in the kitchen. I'll each give you one big slice to eat after you've had lunch."

The twins giggle while I just glare at him.

"Well, I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order," Quil says. He leans down to whisper to me. "I suggest getting the chicken wrap." He then leaves to go back into the kitchen.

Jake and I fall into conversation while scanning through the lunch menu and the girls are immersed in their coloring. I explain to him about knowing Quil for a long time and that his father was friends with my parents. The Atearas are like family and because of this, we get a discount every time we come to the restaurant.

Quil comes back two minutes later with a tray filled with two glasses and two kid-size cups of ice water. Jake and I both order the chicken wrap and I order mac and cheese each for the girls. Quil scribbles on his notepad and smiles widely at us.

"By the way, my mom says hi," he tells me. "She'd come out and greet you, but she's working the kitchen today. One of our regular cooks called in sick so she's covering for him."

While ownership of the restaurant was given to Quil, management was given to his mother, Joy Ateara. But some days, she's the cook, which explains why I didn't see her when we came in.

"Tell her I say hi back," I say.

Quil smiles again before leaving our table and disappearing into the kitchen.

"So, my lease on the apartment is almost up," I tell Jake.

"That's good then, right?" he asks, taking a sip of his water. "It means you can finally buy Paul's old house. He's been nagging me all week for an answer. I guess it's because he thinks we're moving in together."

"Which we're not," I point out. "Not yet, anyway. But I'm still not sure about it. There's enough space to fit a family of ten."

"That's because it's Paul's _family_ home," Jake says.

"Oh, that's right," I say. "He's the youngest of eight kids and after his parents passed and all his brothers and sisters moved out and went their separate ways, he decided to stay in the family home because it was given to him. Neither of his siblings didn't want it."

Jake just stares at me, blankly.

"What?"

"I find it fascinating yet scary that you know everything about every cop in Seattle," he tells me.

"I don't know _everything_ ," I tell him. "Only what I read in their files. I was going through my dad's things in his office at the station after he died and couldn't help myself."

"You've read _all_ of them?" Jake's eyes widen.

I shake my head. "No, only some." He's about to say something else, but I stop him, adding, "Before you ask, no, I did not read _your_ file."

"I wouldn't be upset if you did," he smirks. "You'd be very impressed at what you might find." He then winks at me.

I'm about to say something else, but our food arrives. Jake and I continue to make small talk while we enjoy our meal. Quil comes out every now and then to check on us and refill our cups. When we're done, he clears our table and serves us each a _decent_ size slice of Joy's _famous_ chocolate cake. I guess he saw the angry look I gave him earlier.

Both Quil and his mother know about Susannah's allergy to peanuts so they make sure not to serve us anything that contains nuts or traces of it.

Jake pays the discounted price for our meal and we leave the restaurant, but not before Quil hands me a big white box that has the chocolate cake inside—because neither my siblings nor I leave Ateara's empty-handed. When I mention that there might be other people who would want a slice of the cake—because it's on the menu—Quil tells me Joy made about four of them last night.

Jake and I take the twins to the same park Jake took them to before and just let them drain out their energy so when we get home, they're tired and I can put them down for their afternoon nap. Jake and I sit on the bench and just watch them run around and play. They have the whole place to themselves, much to their happiness. After about a half hour, their energy's drained out and we practically drag them back to my car where Jake buckles Charlotte in her car seat and I do the same with Susannah. By the time I pull into my parking spot in front of the building, they're passed out and Jake carries Charlotte and I carry Susannah to my apartment, where I unlock the door and make my way to the twins' bedroom, Jake following behind. I lay Charlotte down in her bed, tucking her in, and Jake does the same with Susannah. We then leave the room and I quietly close the door behind me.

With the girls napping, Jake and I sit on the couch in the living room and cuddle while watching a rom-com movie on Netflix. The twins have not yet woken up from their nap so we watch another movie, this time an action/adventure one. When we're done, the twins finally wake up and I decide to order pizza for dinner. I ask Jake if he'd like to stay and he says he'd love to. Just as I suspected, when the pizza arrives, he takes out his wallet and pays the delivery man. I know he's being a gentleman and all but him being the one to pay for everything is getting annoying.

After dinner, it's time for Jake to leave and I follow him out the door, but the twins stop us.

"Mommy, can Mr. Jacob sleep over?" Susannah asks. She and Charlotte both look up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"You have to ask him," I tell them.

They look behind me at Jake with the same puppy dog eyes. He steps forward and gets down so he's at their eye level.

"I'd love to sleep over," he explains, "but not tonight. I'm a police officer and it's my job to get the bad guys and put them away."

"So, you'll be really busy?" Charlotte asks, pouting.

Jake nods, smiling sadly at her. "Yes. But maybe next time, I'll sleep over. Hopefully when you and your sister and your Mommy move into a new house. That way, I can have my own room."

"But Mommy will be lonely," Susannah says. "Who will sleep next to Mommy?"

"I'm sure she'll manage," Jake tells her. "She's been doing fine before I came around." He turns to grin at me, giving me a wink, before turning his attention back to the twins, speaking to Susannah. "And you and Charlotte will keep her company, won't you?"

They nod and Jake spreads his arms wide for them to run into. He wraps his arms around both of them and squeezes them gently against him before pulling away.

"Now, are you going to be good for Mommy?" he asks, already acting like a father, which puts a smile on my face.

The twins nod, smiling widely.

"Are you going to do as she says?"

They nod again.

"Good," Jake smiles before standing up. "I have to go, but I will see you next time, okay?"

"Okay," the twins say in unison.

I open the door and Jake steps outside before turning to face me. "That was really nice what you did," I praise him.

"I've read a few parenting books," he tells me. "Since I met the twins, I wanted to learn everything I could about being a parent so that I can be the best father to Charlotte and Susannah." His grin turns sheepish as he steps forward so we're almost touching. He's so tall, his chest is at my eye level. "And so I can impress you with my parenting skills."

"That's sweet of you," I smile up at him, reaching to take both his hands in mine. "And the twins already think of you as their father. You don't need to be the best. You just need to be good."

Jake grins at me before leaning down to give me a kiss on the lips. It ends up being a mini make-out session, right in front of my girls—or _our_ girls, I should say—as he wraps his arms around my waist and I wrap mine around his neck. It's when we hear giggling that we pull away but don't let go of each other. Instead, we both turn our heads to find Charlotte and Susannah grinning up at us.

"I think it's time I put the princesses to bed," I tell Jake.

He nods before giving me a quick peck on the lips. "Good night, Bella," he says, grinning before looking behind me at the twins, giving them a small wave. "Good night, girls."

They wave back and with that, Jake leaves and I close the door.

I turn around to face them. "Okay, ladies. Time for bed."

To my surprise, Charlotte and Susannah don't whine or complain like they usually do when I tell them it's bedtime. Instead, they run towards the bathroom and I can hear the water running as I follow them and find they're already getting started on brushing their teeth.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is a short chapter, but I hope you enjoy. The next one will be longer.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

My parents were friends in high school, but lost touch after they graduated and went their separate ways. Renée, my biological mother, left my dad and I when I was five years old. At the same time, Sue was grieving the loss of her husband, Harry, who died of a heart attack the week before, leaving her with three young kids to raise.

My dad tried his best at being a single father, but it wasn't until a month later that he and Sue met again. Charlie was teaching me how to ride a bike, but I was going so fast that when I hit the brake, I fell off and broke my arm. He then ran over to me, picked me up, carried me to the back of his police cruiser, and drove me to the hospital, sirens blaring. Sue was working as a nurse at the hospital and the one who was tending to me. After she put a cast on my arm, she asked my dad out on a date.

Charlie and I met Sue's kids, three-year-old Seth, five-year-old Leah, and eleven-year-old Emily, and they immediately took a liking to us, especially Seth, who used to always follow me around like a lost puppy whenever Sue and her kids came over and vice versa. Even when we were having a family outing, Seth stayed close to my side and when we moved into our new home, I would wake up every morning to find him sleeping on the floor in my room with his pillow, blanket, and whatever stuffed animal he slept with the night before. I didn't mind, though. In fact, I thought it was really cute while Emily and Leah thought it was annoyingly creepy.

I never heard from Renée since she left, but my dad told me she came back unexpectedly, only for him to serve her divorce papers so he could propose to Sue and they could get married after dating for a year. Renée didn't even bother to ask to see me and I was glad about that. When I met Sue, I knew she'd become my new mother and would never abandon me like Renée did. Sue wasn't Mother of the Year, but she did her best at raising me, as well as her own children. She and my dad even surprised me by showing me what was adoption papers signed by her. Of course, because I was still young and didn't understand what that meant, they explained it to me. Now instead of calling Sue by her name, I called her Mom because that's what she officially was.

March twenty-fifth marks the ninth anniversary of the day those men came and took our parents from us. Every year, my siblings and I do what they loved, which was fishing. Their favorite kind of fish was trout and there was a place we always went to—even as kids—that had a lot of them.

This year is different. Because Seth's in California, attending school, it'll just be us girls. But there was another thing our parents loved to do, which was visit Disneyland in Anaheim. It was always Sue's dream to go there and my dad surprised her with passes on their first wedding anniversary and they went that weekend. They went again, the weekend before school started, but this time, they brought us, and we loved it as much as they did. Since then, it became a family tradition every summer to visit Disneyland. So while Seth was bummed that he wouldn't be joining Leah, Emily, and I on our annual fishing trip, at least he'll still be marking our parents' deaths by driving down to Anaheim, with Daisy, his _human_ girlfriend, not the duck—and whom we haven't met yet—by his side.

* * *

"Remember when you brought a guy over for Mom and Dad to meet?" I ask Emily, who just laughs.

"Oh, yeah," she says. "Dean looked very uncomfortable when he saw Dad holding a shotgun."

"At least Dad wasn't aiming it at him," Leah tells her.

"He looked like he was about to," Emily says.

It's late into the night and while the twins are asleep in one of the tents—that the boys set up while the girls watched—the adults are gathered around the fire a few feet away, the couples each cuddling together on blankets while the rest are sitting in camping chairs, reminiscing mostly about my dad, but also about Sue. While it was going to be just Leah, Emily, the twins, and I, we decided to invite some of Charlie's old colleagues on our fishing trip, including Sam and Jake, even though Charlie died before Jake got a chance to work for him. We invited the Camerons, Lahote, and Call. While Embry is on desk duty due to his diabetes, Sam still sometimes lets him out into the field as long as he's taken his insulin and has eaten a diabetic-friendly meal.

"I remember when Emily snuck us into a PG-13 movie," I smile at the memory.

"Oh, yeah," Leah grins. "Emily thought we should all do something reckless by sneaking into the theater to watch a movie that we weren't allowed to watch. When we came home that night, Mom and Dad were waiting to chew Emily's off."

"They grounded me for two weeks," Emily says, flatly. "But I don't regret doing what I did because it was better than riding a motorcycle without a license. Mom and Dad would've done more than chew my ear off if they found out little Sethy was on one."

"They'd probably kill you," I tell her.

"Or lock you up in your room and take away all your electronics," Leah adds, smirking.

"Thanks guys," Emily says, sarcastically. "I feel so much better."

We all just laugh, even Emily.

"I remember when I told Charlie that Kim and I were dating," Jared smiles before it quickly disappears. "He did not take the news well."

"Because when you told him, he was in a bad mood," Kim tells him. "And when Charlie Swan is in a bad mood…"

"You just leave him alone," we all say in unison.

"Also, I'm the only female on the force, which means every day, I'm surrounded by a lot of testosterone," Kim adds. "Charlie was always so concerned about my safety and well-being."

"In the end, he was happy for you guys," Sam says.

"But I just wish he'd been there on our wedding day," Jared's face turns sad as he gazes down at his wife. "He wasn't even there to congratulate us when we announced to everyone that we were engaged."

"In a way, he was," Kim smiles up at Jared. "He was there, watching over us, wherever we went. He still is."

I suddenly feel tears well up in my eyes. Jake pulls me tighter against him as I lay my head on his shoulder, wiping the tears away with my sweater sleeve. It seems my dad has impacted everyone who knew him, in a positive way. Not only did he help Jake get into the Police Academy, but almost everyone who are on the force today. They all even looked up to Charlie as a father figure. It took all of them a while to get back on their feet after losing their beloved Chief, as well as his wife, who was like a second mother to them.

"Did they ever catch the guy who ordered the hit on the Chief and his wife?" Paul speaks.

"You saw the report," Embry, sitting beside Paul, rolls his eyes at him. "The guy killed himself before the cops could get to him."

It's silent for a moment as we all gaze at the fire.

"Remember when Sue would come by the station with a big Tupperware container of something she made that day?" Paul asks. All the cops, except Jake, nod their heads as they remember those days.

"She always made a special batch just for me because of my diabetes," Embry adds. "The cookies were my favorite."

"She made banana bread one time," Jared says. "She said there was a secret ingredient she put in the bread that made it nutty and delicious."

"Cookie butter," Leah states.

"Huh," Jared frowns. "I would've guessed peanut butter."

"I wish I'd been there," Jake speaks. "Sue sounds like a very kind, generous woman. I would've loved to meet her."

"She was the best," Embry smiles. "I remember she got mad at me one time when she asked if I'd taken my insulin and I told her I forgot because I had so much work to do. She told me I needed to take it and even watched to make sure that I did. Now I remember to take my insulin."

"Only because I practically forced you to set an alarm so you can keep track," Sam chastises Embry. "And now every time you forget, I reduce your pay by ten percent."

"It's no wonder I'm still living with my mother," Embry mutters, a grumpy look on his face. Sam just ignores him.

"I wish Mom and Dad got to meet the twins," I glumly say. "They'd probably given me an earful about being an irresponsible sixteen-year-old by getting pregnant, but they still would've loved Charlotte and Susannah and probably even spoil them like most grandparents do."

"And they would've understood your decision to not attend college and pursue a career," Emily tells me.

"I'm actually thinking about attending college," I reveal. "I can't keep working at the diner for the rest of my life. There are better things out there."

"That's awesome," Leah beams. "What career do you want to pursue?"

"Well, I've always wanted to get into writing," I answer. "Remember when I used to write stories on my laptop?"

"I remember," Emily says. "Mom and Dad gave you your very own laptop for your tenth birthday and you'd be on it for hours. At first, we all thought you were just playing games on the Internet, but I took a sneak peak and it turns out, you were writing stories in Microsoft Word."

"Then I caught you looking and now every time you or anyone else entered the room, I'd close my laptop," I tell her. "I didn't want anyone reading my work."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about," Emily states. "From what I saw, you were really good and I do think you should pursue a career in writing because you'd be great at it. Who knows? Maybe someday, you'll even publish your own book." Leah nods in agreement.

"Thanks," I smile at them.

It's silent again as the fire slowly starts to die down.

"Should one of us check up on the twins?" Kim, always so concerned about the safety and well-being of my girls—about any child really—asks, glancing at the tent they're sleeping in.

"They're fine," I assure her, flipping my hand. "They sleep like the dead and even if they do wake up and try to sneak off, we'll know, especially me. Nothing gets past me."

We all laugh at that.

"You know, Charlotte and Susannah consider _me_ their superhero," Jake grins, proudly. "Because I'm out there, saving people, catching the bad guys, putting them away."

"You know, you're not the only cop in town," Sam smirks. "They consider the rest of us superheroes."

"Ah, but _I'm_ their favorite," Jake tells him, pointing to himself.

"Of course you are," all the cops say at once.

Once the fire dies down, we decide to turn in for the night. We say good night to one another before getting into our tents (each couple is sharing one) and going to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Feeling kind of generous by posting this chapter, this one longer than the last.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

* * *

We spent the rest of the weekend fishing some more while we continued to reminisce about the good—as well as the bad—times when my parents were alive. We decided to make it a friendly competition, between the couples who were each sharing a fishing rod, to see who can catch the most trout. It was a tie between Sam and Emily and Jared and Kim. In the end, the Camerons won and Sam granted them three extra days of their paid vacation time as a reward.

Because there was no cell service where we were at, I couldn't call or text Seth to see how he was doing in Anaheim. But it wasn't until we left the fishing grounds early in the morning on Sunday and was able to get service that my phone started going off with texts from him. Seth had added Emily, Leah and I in a group message, and so all three of us were able to see the pictures he sent of his time at Disneyland with his girlfriend. He even sent us a picture of our parents' names he had carved in the sand. Apparently, he and Daisy had also gone to the beach. I tried not to cry as Jake drove us back to Seattle in my car—because it was a Dodge Grand Caravan that could fit all of our fishing/camping gear—and sent Seth a tearful text message, telling him that I miss him and that I hope he's doing well in California. Leah and Emily sent similar messages and Seth replied with both a heart and a sad face emoji.

When we arrived back in Seattle after a long drive, I finally sat down with Paul and put in an offer on his family home, which he accepted. Thankfully, all his furniture was new and fit my style so I decided to keep them and donate my old, ratty furniture. I didn't know what I was going to do about the extra bedrooms, but I planned on making one of them a playroom for the twins. And perhaps another one my home office if I finally decide to pursue a career in writing.

Because the girls had school—and swimming lessons on Wednesday that I signed them up for—and I was working another forty-hour week, we didn't have time to pack up our stuff and move it into our new home until the weekend. It was actually a good thing because Jake had Saturday and Sunday off and so I accepted his offer to help us move. While he and I are still taking things slow, on the way back to Seattle from our trip, I asked him to move in with me and he said yes. So really, _we_ put in an offer on the house and Paul accepted it. Jake had already packed up his apartment and was ready to move his stuff into our new home.

Now that we're settled into our home, I decide to make shepherd's pie as our first home-cooked meal, using Sue's recipe, which calls for sweet potatoes instead of regular ones. While I'm in the kitchen, making dinner, Jake and the twins are in the living room, playing a board game. While the pie is finishing in the oven, I set a timer and make a salad.

"Charlotte! Susannah!" I call, bringing the large bowl of salad, as well as four placemats, over to the table in the dining room just off the kitchen. "Could you two help Mommy set the table, please?" I set the bowl down in the middle of the table and lay out the mats in front of each chair. I then go back to the kitchen and open the bottom drawer to grab cutlery and cloth napkins and lay them out on the counter. When the twins come running, I hand them the cutlery (thankfully, the knives are dull and not sharp) and napkins and they head to the dining room to lay them out on the mats.

"Smells good," Jake praises, grinning from behind the counter. "What's on the menu?" As soon as he says this, the oven timer goes off.

"Shepherd's pie with a garden salad to go with it," I tell him, opening the oven and taking the pie out using potholders.

"Awesome," is all he says before taking his seat at the table.

"Mommy, we're done!" Susannah calls.

"Okay, now go wash up," I tell them and they do just that. Using two potholders, I carry the shepherd's pie over to the table and set it down beside the salad bowl. Realizing I'd forgotten to grab serving spoons, I run back into the kitchen and grab two to toss the salad, as well as a sharp knife and a serving spatula to cut and serve the pie.

We make small talk throughout dinner and I ask the girls what they think of the house and they tell me, and I quote, "it looks like Auntie Emily's but bigger and with more bedrooms." Now that I think about it, it actually does. It's her home, but in reverse. She and Leah have not yet seen the house, but they will soon. I just have to talk to Jake about perhaps throwing a little housewarming party.

After dinner, I take Joy's chocolate cake out of the fridge and start cutting up two medium slices for Jake and I as well as two small slices for the girls. Leah must've told Quil I was moving because he came by the diner the day before and dropped off the cake, telling me it was a housewarming gift from him and his mother.

While we enjoy our dessert, I put on Disney's Frozen on the TV and Jake and I sit together on the couch with the twins sitting on the floor at our feet. Jake had won the contest at the police station and so he got his brand-new flat-screen. The old one is hanging on the wall in our bedroom.

By the time we're done watching the movie, both Charlotte and Susannah's eyes begin to droop and Jake helps them get ready for bed while I grab our dirty plates and forks and start cleaning up in the kitchen. Although it didn't work before, I decide to give the whole separation another try. So the girls are sleeping in separate bedrooms as sort of a trial run. I already know it won't work out, but I also know that eventually, they'll get tired of each other and would want to do things on their own. Before Jake tucks each of them into bed, their teeth brushed and their pajamas on, they both run back into the kitchen to give me each a hug and a kiss good night. Five minutes later, Jake comes into the kitchen and after washing the dishes and wiping down the counters and stovetop, I make tea for us. We then sit at the dining room table with our cups of tea and make small talk.

"So, I think it's time you meet my sisters," Jake blurts and I wish he hadn't because when he says this, I spew out my tea.

"What?" I ask in surprise, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

Jake smiles. "I mean, I already met your family. Seems fair that you meet mine."

"Were you waiting all day to tell me this?" I raise an eyebrow.

His smile turns into a grin as he nods, taking a sip of his tea.

"I don't know," I say. "What if your sisters don't like me?"

"Are you kidding?" he says. "They already love you. I've told them so much about you, they feel like they know you already."

"When would they like to meet?"

"How does tomorrow sound?" Jake asks. "We can stop by the diner for lunch and you guys can meet then. Actually, you'll only be meeting Rachel because I just remembered that Rebecca lives in Hawaii with her husband."

"Is there anything I need to know about Rachel?" I ask, taking another sip of my tea.

Jake thinks about it for a moment. "She loves kids," he tells me. "She even works at a daycare center."

"And Rebecca?"

"She loves kids, too," he says. "She's a kindergarten teacher."

"So I have nothing to worry about?" I ask.

Jake grins. "You have nothing to worry about. My sisters are really nice and Rachel will love you, I promise."

"Well, I look forward to meeting her," I smile. "Set it up."

He does just that, taking out his phone and texting his sister.

* * *

I'm starting to regret my decision as I go about my day the following Monday, working the lunch shift, waiting for Jake to come in with Rachel. Leah is in school right now so she's not here to lend her support and meet Rachel as well. Luckily, the diner is not too busy as I'm the only waitress working the lunch shift.

It's when I'm at the counter, refilling the napkin dispensers that I hear the bell chime and lift my head to find Jake in his uniform, standing next to a woman in her late twenties. They both give me a small smile before taking a seat at the counter.

"Hi," I stop what I'm doing and grab two menus, as well as two coffee mugs, and set them down in front of Jake and the woman I'm assuming is Rachel. I go over to check the coffee maker before grabbing the pot by its handle and walking over to pour the still hot liquid into their mugs. I then hand them two packets each of sugar, two of the single-serve cups of creamer, and two coffee stirrers. "You must be Rachel," I smile at the woman sitting next to Jake. "I'm Bella Swan." I stick out my head for her to shake.

"It's nice to meet you," Rachel smiles back, shaking my hand, her smile reminding me of Jake. "And may I just say that your father was a good man. He didn't deserve to go the way he did."

"Thank you," I tell her, releasing my hand. "So, I hear you work at a daycare center."

"I do," Rachel beams. "The little tykes can be quite a handful, but I love them."

"I have two kids of my own," I say. "Twin girls."

"Oh, that's right," Rachel says as she rips open one of the sugar packets and pours it into her coffee, followed by one of the single-serve cups of creamer. "Charlotte and Susannah. Jake's told me about them. They sound like sweethearts." She stirs the contents in her coffee with the stirrer before blowing on it and taking a sip.

"They're adorable," Jake tells her, also putting sugar and creamer in his coffee and stirring the contents. "And they like me as much as I like them and their mother." He turns to wink at me and I smile sheepishly while feeling something wet _down there._

"Of course they do," Rachel says, rolling her eyes at her brother. "Who _doesn't_ love you?"

All three of us laugh at that.

"Well, I'm hungry," Rachel tells me, scanning through the menu. "Baby brother here," she nudges Jake, "told me not to eat anything because we were coming here and so my stomach has been growling since I left the house."

"Hey, once you've had breakfast, you're good for the whole day," Jake says, also scanning through the menu. "And this place serves the best burgers."

"You know I'm a vegetarian, right?" Rachel gives her brother the side eye.

"We have vegan and vegetarian options," I tell her.

"Then in that case," she scans through the menu again before looking up at me. "I'll have the chickpea burger with sweet potato fries."

I take my notepad and pen out from the pocket of my apron and jot that down.

"And you know what I want," Jake grins widely at me, wiggling his eyebrows.

"For her to jump into bed with you?" Rachel guesses and I can't help but giggle at the playful banter between brother and sister.

Jake sighs in exasperation. "No. What I want is my usual order. And Bella," he gestures to me, "knows what my usual order is."

"Chicken burger with a side salad," I say, jotting that down on my notepad. I then rip the paper off and clip it to the order wheel, turning it clockwise towards the kitchen. "Paul and Jared order that, too," I tell Rachel.

"How _is_ Paul?" she asks, the question directed at Jake. "Is he still saving the world like you and the other cops are?"

"Yes, he is," Jake answers. "I'm surprised he doesn't have a partner."

"Neither do you," Rachel points out. "You guys spend so much time together, why don't you just ask Sam if you and Lahote can partner up? I'm sure Paul won't mind."

"I agree with Rachel," I blurt out and both Black siblings turn to look at me.

"You think I should do it?" Jake asks me.

I just nod.

"Okay then," he smiles. "When I get back to the station, I'll talk to Sam."

Both Rachel and Jake's food arrives and I give Rachel her chickpea burger with fries and Jake his chicken burger with salad. I then continue working while they enjoy their lunch. Luckily, my shift is almost over so when they're done eating, they leave the diner and just wait for me outside.

After my shift ends, and another one of my co-workers comes in to relieve me and start _her_ shift, I go to the back of the diner to grab my purse and coat from my locker. When I come outside, Rachel and Jake are standing next to Jake's cruiser.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Bella," Rachel steps forward to give me a hug, which I reciprocate. "I hope we can hang out again, soon."

"It was nice meeting you, too," I tell her, pulling away. "Hopefully, I'll get to meet Rebecca."

"Oh, you will," Rachel says. "She's flying in this Friday and visiting for the weekend."

Jake raises an eyebrow. "Why wasn't I aware of this?"

Rachel turns to face her brother. "Sorry," she apologizes. "I forgot to tell you. Also, Rebecca wasn't sure if she could come or not. You know how busy she is, being a kindergarten teacher and all." She turns back to face me.

"Well, I look forward to meeting her," I say. "Maybe I'll bring my daughters."

"Oh, please do," Rachel smiles. "I'd love to meet Charlotte and Susannah as well as your siblings. We can maybe have a little get-together at your place. Jake told me you two bought Paul's old family home."

"We did," I smile. "And we love it. So do the twins."

"His bedroom was where we had sex for the first time," Rachel's smile turns into a mischievous grin.

Jake groans. "Really? You just had to blurt that out?"

She just shrugs.

"You and Paul are in a relationship?" I ask Rachel, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"We were," she explains. "But then when he told me he enrolled in the Police Academy, I broke up with him because I knew what being a cop meant. And while I think what Paul's doing is heroic, I didn't want to be that kind of girl who's waiting for her man to come home from the war, safely and in one piece, because I knew that one day, he won't."

"Do you miss him?" is all I ask.

Rachel nods. "I do, but I know I made the right choice."

I smile sadly at her and reach up to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Well, I have to get back to work," Jake speaks, breaking the short silence. "And so do you, Rachel."

Rachel gives me one last hug before stepping back so Jake can do the same. When he pulls away, he leans down to give me a brief kiss on the lips.

"I'll see you at home?" he asks, resting his forehead against mine and closing his eyes, smiling in content.

I nod and he pulls away. I watch Jake and his sister get in his cruiser and wave at them through the windshield as he pulls out of the parking lot and drives away. I then get in my car and start heading to the twins' school to pick them up.

* * *

 **I could not find a picture that I feel best describes Bella and Jake's new home, but hopefully, you can sort of get an idea of what it looks like. Just think about those houses you see in really nice** **neighborhoods. Their house is similar to that.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I did my best with editing this chapter.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

Since Jake's other sister was flying in for a visit, I figured I'd host a little dinner so I can meet her. Luckily, Sue had a recipe for meatless lasagna since Rachel is a vegetarian. I always cook using Sue's recipes because it's how I remember her by and it's like she's in the kitchen with me, helping me out with whatever I'm making for Jake, the twins, and myself. Jake was picking up Rebecca from the airport after work, as well as Rachel, and Leah was coming over after school and so was Emily, bringing the twins with her.

While Rebecca immediately took a liking to me, she and Rachel immediately took a liking to Emily and Leah. Rebecca even struck up a conversation with Emily, both of them seeming to have quite a lot in common. And like Rachel, Rebecca praised my father for being a great cop and told me she knows what it's like to lose both parents. Being the oldest—as well as old enough—she had to step up and be Jake and Rachel's guardian, like Emily did with Seth, Leah, and I, though she had a choice whether she wanted to be our guardian or not. When Jake's sisters met our daughters, they were all over each other, though, Charlotte and Susannah were shy at first. But when I told them that _Mr. Jacob's_ sisters are also twins, their faces brightened and Rachel and Rebecca became their new BFFs.

"Bella, this lasagna is delicious," Rebecca praises, taking another bite. "You're a really good cook."

"Thank you," I tell her, proudly. "It's my mother's recipe. And the only one I found that didn't contain any meat because I know Rachel's a vegetarian."

"Rachel's not really a vegetarian," Rebecca assures. "It's just a phase she's going through. Pretty soon, she'll be eating a ten-ounce steak with a side of mashed potatoes over at the Outback Steakhouse."

Rachel's only response is to turn to glare at her twin, which Rebecca ignores. Charlotte and Susannah insisted they be near their BFFs so they're sitting between them with Rachel on Susannah's left and Rebecca on Charlotte's right.

We eat our dinner in comfortable silence, occasionally making small talk. I'm learning so much about Jake's sisters, as well as more about Jake himself. Rebecca and her husband were college sweethearts and married in a courthouse right after they graduated. They decided to move to Honolulu because they both felt like they needed a change of scenery. And while she doesn't regret her decision to move far away, Rebecca misses her brother and sister every day. Reminds me of when Seth decided he wanted to study law in California, but knew how it would impact Emily, Leah, and I. We didn't want him to go, but we also didn't want to hold him back from pursuing his dream.

"I hope everyone's saved room for dessert," I say once we're all finished eating.

Rebecca pushes her empty plate forward and leans back in her chair. "Oh, I don't think I can eat any more. I'm stuffed."

"You sure?" I playfully raise an eyebrow at her. "It's my friend's mother's chocolate cake. Her son is always dropping them off to me because the twins love them. Saves me time from making my own dessert."

"You can't say no to chocolate cake," Jake tells Rebecca. "This one is so moist and delicious, you'll want another slice."

Rebecca purses her lips before responding with a smile, "Okay, I guess I'll have just a small slice."

Emily and Leah help me slice up and serve the cake. We continue to make conversation as we enjoy our dessert and even though Rebecca wanted just a small slice, she asks for another one, this one bigger than the last, and I happily give it to her.

After dessert, I make tea for the adults, and we all move to the living room and sit on the couches and watch the twins play with their toys on the floor in front of us. They ask their BFFs to join them and Rachel and Rebecca cheerfully say yes.

"Are you and Lance still trying for a baby?" Jake asks Rebecca.

"I don't want to talk about it," Rebecca says as she helps Susannah build something using one of her and Charlotte's LEGO & Friends toy sets.

"Is everything okay between you two?" Rachel turns her attention to her twin sister while she and Charlotte play with another one of the LEGO & Friends sets.

"Everything's fine," Rebecca tells Rachel. "Lance and I are just going through something right now."

"Which is?" Rachel questions and Rebecca gives her an annoyed look. "Come on, you might as well tell us. You know Jake is a cop, meaning he'll shove you into a room and interrogate you until you break. How do you think he got me to admit I stole twenty bucks from his wallet?"

"You only admitted to stealing twenty bucks from me because as soon as I entered the room, you yelled out, 'I STOLE TWENTY BUCKS FROM YOUR WALLET!'" Jake says.

"Oh, yeah," Rachel smiles sheepishly. "I remember. I have such a big mouth. That's why you should never trust me with keeping your secrets."

"We're getting off topic," Jake says before turning his attention to Rebecca, making a gesture with his hand. "Come on, out with it."

Rebecca sighs and stops what she's doing. "Okay," she starts, "Remember when I told you that Lance couldn't come and spend the weekend with us because he's really busy with work?"

Jake and Rachel both nod while Emily, Leah, and I just stay out of it because it's none of our business.

"I lied," Rebecca admits. "Lance and I are separated. We have been for a while now."

Rachel's mouth drops open in shock while Jake's eyes widen. "What happened?" Rachel asks.

"We had the baby talk," Rebecca explains. "But then he told me he's changed his mind and decided he doesn't want to be a father because it's too much of a responsibility for him."

That sounds so familiar.

"I thought he wanted to be a father," Rachel says. "You told us that his face practically lit up when you brought up the topic of babies."

Rebecca just shrugs. "Like I said, he changed his mind. If only I knew the real reason why he did."

"Do you want me to fly down to Honolulu and knock some sense into him?" Jake smirks. "I can bring Paul and Jared with me."

"Please don't," Rebecca begs. "Lance and I will work things out. Right now, we just need to take a break from each other and think about where we stand."

"And what if things don't work out?" Rachel asks. "Will you and Lance get a divorce?"

"I hope and pray it doesn't come to that," Rebecca tells her brother and sister. "I love Lance so much. I want us to work out. Now can we please just drop it? I was having so much fun playing with Susannah and I'd like to get back to it."

Jake and Rachel do as Rebecca says and don't ask any more questions. Instead, we watch both sets of twins play together until it's time for Charlotte and Susannah to go to bed. They insist that Rachel and Rebecca help them with their bedtime routine, which Jake's sisters are happy to do.

Once the children are asleep, Emily and Leah decide to call it a night and therefore, they say their goodbyes and leave. When they're gone, it's just Jake, his sisters, and I. I tell Rachel and Rebecca about my daughters being devoted to each other and Rachel tells me that she and Rebecca can relate.

"Rebecca and I were inseparable up until middle school when we finally decided we needed a break," she explains. "It was hard being away from each other. We were like _conjoined_ twins. Always attached at the hip. But we knew if we relied on each other for everything and spent more time together than with other people, we'd end up going crazy."

"We still have a close-knit relationship," Rebecca adds. "And we still talk every day, even if she's here and I'm a million miles away, in a different time zone."

Jake clears his throat and the girls laugh.

"We also have a close-knit relationship with our baby brother," Rachel says. "Even if we still tease him sometimes." She gives Jake a wink. He just mutters something about not being a baby anymore, crossing his arms over his chest. I place a hand on his arm to comfort him and he turns to give me a small smile.

"My advice is just let the girls do what they want," Rachel tells me. "Sure, they'll probably still be dependent on each other, but that's their choice."

"Or just slowly ease them into the separation," Rebecca advises. "Next year, when they start kindergarten, put them each in a different classroom and see how well they do. They'll probably cry and throw a temper tantrum, but that's to be expected. I know, from experience."

I momentarily forget that Rebecca is a kindergarten teacher. When I say this out loud, she just laughs.

"Of course I have to deal with how one twin reacts to being separated from the other," Rebecca says. "I always feel bad for them and for the parents. But in the end, they get used to the separation. So much so that they focus more on school and their own personal life than their brother or sister."

"Our parents tried to separate us when we started kindergarten," Rachel explains. "Of course, it didn't work out so they just let us be and hoped that we made the choice on our own. If only they could see us now." Her face turns sad for a brief moment before she smiles.

"I will definitely give it a try," I say. "So far, they're doing fine with sleeping in separate bedrooms so I say that's progress right there. But then again, they're too tired to notice they're alone."

"Do they ever fight with each other?" Rebecca asks, curiously.

"Rarely," I answer. "I think the only time they fight is over who wants to be the first one to do something, and it's usually Charlotte who's the lucky one because she's two minutes older than Susannah while Susannah thinks that's simply not fair and throws a tantrum."

"Rachel and I used to fight all the time," Rebecca explains. "Usually over clothes because we made the mistake of agreeing to share since we're the same size. And not just that, but sharing in general."

"I'm starting to think the twins are like us," Rachel says, the statement directed at her sister. "Or is it just coincidence?"

"I think it's just coincidence," I speak, letting out a small laugh.

We chat some more and before we know it, it's one in the morning so we decide to turn in for the night. We say our goodbyes and Jake's sisters leave, but not before he tells Rachel to drive safe.

"That went well," I tell him as he closes the front door and turns to face me.

"I told you they love you," he grins, taking both my hands in his. "And they especially love Charlie and Susie, given how the four interacted with each other."

I ignore the fact that Jake just nicknamed Charlotte after my dad, as well as Susannah after my mom. Then again, they _are_ named after their grandparents so I shouldn't really complain. "They both work with children," I point out instead, meaning Rachel and Rebecca. "Of course they love our girls."

"Still, even if they didn't, they'd love them," Jake says before he frowns. "Not that I'm complaining but why is it when you talk about the twins, you say 'our' instead of 'your?'"

I glance down at our joined hands before lifting my head to look up at him, a sheepish smile on my face. "Well, even though the girls still call you 'Mr. Jacob,' they think of you as their father and so do I."

"And why do they call me ' _Mr.'_ instead of just Jacob or Jake?"

"They think it's the polite way to talk to people outside their family," I reply. "If it makes you feel any better, they call their aunt Emily 'MissEmily.'"

"Only because she's also their teacher," Jake tells me.

"Good point," I let out a small laugh.

He steps closer to me before leaning down until our lips are inches apart. "I love you, Isabella Swan." That's the first time he's said those three words to me and I was waiting for him to say them.

I smile, "I love you too, Jacob Black. And I'm ready to take thatnext step."

Jake raises an eyebrow, knowing exactly what I'm talking about. "You sure? Because I can wait. Hell, I'll wait until we're married, which probably won't be for another year or so. Unless you're willing to wait for that, too or, you know, we could elope somewhere. Of course, you'd want your family to be there with you and—"

I stop his rambling by covering my mouth with his in a kiss and he reciprocates, wrapping his arms around my waist and I wrap mine around his neck. He then lifts me up off the ground and carries me down the hall to our bedroom, closing the door behind him and setting me back down. We continue to make out before Jake pulls away and rests his forehead against mine.

"I don't have protection," he says, quietly.

"Don't worry," I promise him. "I do, courtesy of Leah Clearwater, who not only bought me a box of condoms but a lingerie set from Victoria's Secret."

"Well," Jake says, "I guess I'll have to send her a thank-you gift basket. And we'll also have to be quiet so we don't wake our girls."

Before I can reply, his mouth is on mine again as each article of our clothing slowly comes off.

* * *

 **So, Bella and Jake finally took that next step in their relationship. I tried writing a sex scene, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to so I apologize if you were looking forward to some B &J action.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back with a new chapter!**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

While I'm no virgin—Charlotte and Susannah being evidence of the fact—I forgot what sex felt like. Jake and I spent all night making love and although he was slow and cautious—because he was afraid of hurting me—the sex was really good. But Jake was. A virgin, I mean. Considering the fact that he's extremely good-looking, I figured he's had a few or more girlfriends or have been in a few or more sexual relationships. But no, he was a straight-up, twenty-six-year-old virgin and I was his first.

I snuggle closer against Jake's bare chest, smiling contently as he tightens his arms around me, neither of us wanting to open our eyes just yet. Even when we hear giggling coming from two mischievous little toddlers, we still don't open our eyes. Instead I smile against Jake's chest.

"Babe, there are gremlins in our room."

Catching onto my act, he says, "I'm sure they'll go away."

We hear more giggling and I open one eye. Sure enough, Charlie and Susie—that's what I'll be calling them now—are standing by our bedside, awake and grinning down at us.

Faking a yawn, I mumble, "They're still here."

Jake pretends to groan. "You take care of them."

"No, you," I argue.

He sighs. "Okay, fine."

Before the twins can even blink, Jake detangles himself from me and reaches out to grab them, pulling them onto our bed and flipping them over so they're lying on their backs, tickling both their tummies. Thankfully, he has a pair of boxers on while I'm fully clothed, having changed into a pair of pajamas after the night we had. I decide to join in on the fun, tickling Susie's tummy while I pepper her face with morning kisses. Jake does the same with Charlie.

"Daddy, stop!" Charlie laughs and Jake and I stop "attacking" the twins but not because Charlie said so. I turn to look at Jake, who looks like someone just poured a bucket of cold water on him.

"Daddy?" Charlie asks. "Are you okay, Daddy?"

"Jake?" I reach out to touch his shoulder. "You okay?"

Jake snaps out of it before turning to grin at me. "I'm fine. I just, uh, blacked out for a moment."

We stop playing and get out of bed. Thankfully, it's Saturday, meaning Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes for breakfast. I also make Minnie Mouse by making the bow out of strawberries and a big dollop of whipped cream in between. The whole time I was making weekend pancakes, I didn't think of this idea. The girls don't just love Mickey, but Minnie as well. In fact, that's what they want the theme of their fifth birthday party to be. Minnie _and_ Mickey Mouse.

Jake's phone beeps and he grabs it, turning it on. "Rachel wants to know if we can all hang out with her and Rebecca. Maybe go to the aquarium?"

The twins perk up when Jake mentions the aquarium. "Can we, Mommy? Can we? Can we?" they ask, giving me matching puppy dog looks.

"Of course we can," I smile at them and they cheer, excitedly. I laugh before turning my attention to Jake. "Tell your sisters we'd love to hang out with them. I'll text Emily and Leah and ask if they'd like to join us."

Jake types something on his phone while I do the same on mine. A few seconds later, both our phones beep at the same time.

"Rachel says she can pick us up in an hour. She drives a Range Rover and it can fit up to five or so passengers," Jake tells me.

"That's fine," I say. "The twins just need their car seats."

"They're in your car," he says.

"No, they're in yours," I argue. When he raises an eyebrow, I go on, "Remember? My car broke down so you lent me yours until I could get it fixed. I took the car seats out before dropping it off at the mechanic and transferred them to the Prius."

"Oh, yeah," Jake lets out a small laugh.

"Emily and Leah says they'd be happy to join us, but Emily wants to know if Sam could come," I read the text message Emily sent me.

Jake makes a disgusted face, followed by a noise with his mouth.

"What?"

He hesitates before answering, "Believe me, I'm happy for your sister and I'm happy for Sam. But them being in a relationship makes me uncomfortable."

"How?" Now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow.

Jake starts talking really fast. "Well, Sam's my _boss,_ for starters _._ I make one mistake and not only does he get mad, but he reports said mistake to Emily and I know girls like to gossip so she'll tell you about my mistake and then I'll either have to face your pity look or your wrath. And vice versa."

"What do you mean, 'vice versa?'" I question.

"If Sam finds out I hurt you, god knows what he'll do," Jake says.

"I'm sure Sam won't do anything rash," I assure him. "He'll probably just make you work overtime as punishment, which is not that bad when you think about it because it means more money."

"I do hope you're right," Jake gives me a weak smile.

After breakfast, I clean up in the kitchen while Jake gets the girls ready to go to the Seattle Aquarium. Rachel and Rebecca are okay with Sam coming along and I told them not to worry about trying to make space in Rachel's car because he and Emily will meet us at the aquarium and be the ones to get us our tickets with Sam paying for them, shutting down our offers to pay him back.

"Can we talk about what happened earlier?" Jake's voice comes out of nowhere, making me jump and drop the dish I was washing back into the sink filled with water. We do have a dishwasher, but we only use it if there's a lot of dirty dishes and there wasn't during breakfast.

"Jake, you scared me," I tell him, turning around and placing a hand over my heart.

"Sorry," he smiles sheepishly at me.

"Are Charlie and Susie ready?" I ask.

He nods. "Yes and right now, they're in Charlie's room, playing on their iPads."

"Okay," I wipe my hands on my pants. "Let's go sit at the dining table."

"That's okay," Jake assures me. "This will only take a moment."

"Okay, shoot."

"Did you catch what Charlie said?" he asks.

"Of course," I tell him. "She didn't exactly whisper it." I take a few steps forward until we're almost touching and reach to take both his hands in mine. "How do you feel about it?"

Jake looks lost for a moment before he frowns. "I don't know. I mean, I love Charlie and Susie and love that they think of me as their dad. But you and I haven't been dating for that long. I guess it feels weird to actually hear them say it."

"But you're not uncomfortable?" I ask.

Jake gazes down at me, grinning. "No, I'm not. I just need to get used to it is all. But you know what this means, right?" He wiggles his eyebrows.

I know exactly what this means. "We are not getting married," I tell him, blankly.

Jake's shoulders slump as he pouts. "I tried."

I can't help but giggle as I lean in to kiss him on the cheek. "I still love you," I whisper in his ear.

His face brightens, "I love you, too." He then gives me a quick peck on the lips.

We once again hear giggling and pull away to find _our_ girls standing in the hallway, smiling up at us. "Daddy kissed Mommy on the lips!" Charlie giggles and her sister joins in.

"Would you two like one as well?" Jake grins mischievously as he stalks towards the twins, like a predator stalking its prey.

"NOOO!" they scream before turning on their heels and making a run for it, Jake running after them. "NO, DADDY, STOP!" I hear Susie scream as Jake makes roaring noises. "MOMMY, DADDY'S ATTACKING US!"

I just smile to myself as I take a clean, damp cloth and wipe down the kitchen counters. The twins continue to call for help as Jake pretends he's a wild animal and they're his food. By the time I'm done and rinsing out the cloth in the sink, the screams stop and the house is quiet. A few minutes later, Jake comes back into the kitchen.

"Okay, I managed to plant some on them," he tells me before coming up from behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. "Now it's your turn." I close my eyes and lean back against him as he places light kisses along the side of my face before moving down to my neck.

"Jake?" I moan, softly.

"Hmm?"

"You and I still need to get ready," I tell him.

He sighs and takes a step back. I wring the cloth as best as I could and place it on the divider between the two sinks. I then follow Jake to our bedroom, stopping for a brief moment to check on the twins. Seeing that they've gone back to playing on their iPads, I go into my and Jake's bedroom and we get ready to go to the aquarium with his sisters and mine.

* * *

Charlie and Susie were extremely excited to be reunited with their BFFs after only about fifteen hours or so of being apart. I was relieved that Rachel and Rebecca could understand what the twins are saying as they babbled on about the aquatic animals and the facts that they know, thanks to having an aunt who's a teacher. They forgot all about us as we followed them through every exhibit, Charlie holding Rebecca's hand and Susie holding Rachel's. We didn't mind, though. The twins are always with either Emily, Leah or even Seth—but mostly Emily—so it was nice to see them with other family. I smiled to myself when I thought about Jake and his sisters as being part of the family. We've only been dating for a month, but even before then, I already thought of Jake—as well as Rachel and Rebecca—as being part of the family. Because those who have joined the police force, even after losing their beloved police chief, are immediately part of the family.

Charlie and Susie continue to babble on about their day as we eat lunch at Ateara's. Rachel told me that she's been to the restaurant before and, along with Rebecca, was shocked and surprised when I told her that my family and I knew the owner, as well as his mom. Once again, the place is empty and Quil is the only one working.

"Yeah, we're a bit low on staff right now," he explains when he approaches our table to take our orders and I bring it up with him. "Most of our waiters and waitresses are in school so they only work part-time. We're looking to hire some people full-time if you're interested, Bella. Actually, my mom still wants to hire you, but I told her you already have a job."

"Actually, I'm thinking about quitting," I reveal. All the adults, including Quil, gasp at this. I just shrug my shoulders. "It's time I move on to something else. I mean, I wasn't planning on working at the diner forever."

"But you can make your own hours," Leah tells me. "And I'm working there, too."

"Yeah, but only three days a week," I remind her. "And it's only one of those days that we're working the same shift."

"Didn't Quil just say that he's looking to hire _more_ people?" Rachel asks. Leah and I both nod at this. "Then there you go." We just stare at her, blankly. She sighs, "Leah, if you too don't want to work at the diner anymore, then I'm sure Quil would be more than happy to hire you to work here with Bella."

"She's right," Quil agrees, grinning at Leah. "And because I know you're in school and Bella has children to take care of, we can work out a schedule that's flexible for both of you. Like what you do at the diner."

"Well, I'll think about it," I say before turning to face my sister. "Leah?"

She just nods. "I'll think about it too. Of course, we'd have to give one month notice of resignation to our boss if we do decide to leave, but it can be done."

"Great," Quil says before taking out his notepad and pen to take our orders. After he writes down Sam's order, he turns his attention back to Leah, "Actually Leah, now that you're here, do you want to maybe go on a date with me? A _romantic_ date, that is."

Everyone at the table, except for Charlie and Susie—who have stopped babbling about what a fun day they've had at the aquarium and are now coloring on their paper kids' menus—turn to look at Leah, waiting for her answer. She just stares at Quil like he's grown two heads.

"Uh…" she stutters.

"Say yes, Lee," Emily encourages.

Leah takes a deep breath before letting it out. "I would love to go on a _romantic_ date with you, Quil," she tells Quil, whose grin grows wider.

"Great," he says. "This is the part where I give you my number so you can call me, but you already have it and I have yours. So I'll call you and we can schedule for that date." He winks at her.

"Okay," is all Leah says as she plays with her hair. Quil just gives her another grin before heading into the kitchen.

It's silent around the table for a moment before Rachel speaks, "I take it you like him." This statement is directed at Leah, who just smiles sheepishly.

"I guess," she says. "We've been friends for years, but I didn't think I'd have romantic feelings for Quil until we kissed six months ago."

Both Emily and my jaws drop to the floor. "What?" we both say at the same time.

"You didn't know that?" Rachel asks us, raising an eyebrow, reminding me of her brother.

Emily and I both shake our heads, shocked looks plastered on our faces.

"Quil came over to my apartment to drop off food for me because I was in the middle of studying for a test and hadn't eaten since earlier that afternoon," Leah explains. "How he knew that, I had no idea. Anyway, I figured I'd take a break and eat dinner. Quil stayed for a bit and joined me, even though there was only enough for one. I dropped my plastic fork and went to pick it up at the same time he did. We bumped heads and, well, you know what happened next."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Emily asks.

Leah just shrugs. "We made a promise to each other to forget about what happened and move on, but _I_ couldn't do that. I thought maybe it was because Quil didn't feel the same way I felt about him."

"He obviously does now since he just asked you out right in front of us," I tell her. "And don't think Emily and I didn't notice the lovey-dovey looks you've been exchanging every time you see each other. Maybe he did like you more than a friend. He just thought the same thing."

"You're probably right," Leah gives me a small smile.

Quil comes back with our food, but doesn't say anything except what each of us ordered as he serves it to us. Instead, he just grins and practically skips back into the kitchen.

"He seems really happy," Rebecca says.

"Of course he is," Rachel says. "He finally asked his crush out on a date." She winks at Leah.

We all laugh at that before digging into our food.


	12. Chapter 12

**I couldn't wait to get the next chapter written and uploaded that I only proofread it once so I apologize if it's a little out of order.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

"It's about time they go on a real date," Seth says from the other line. "I just don't understand why it took Quil this long to ask Leah out."

"It's because he thought she didn't feel the same way he felt about her and vice versa," I explain as I fold laundry in the master bedroom. "So instead, they've just been exchanging flirtatious looks and stuff."

"He still would've at least tried," Seth says. "Or Leah would. You know, it's not always up to the guy to ask the girl out. Girls can ask guys out to."

"Did you not hear what I just said?" I practically snap. I stop folding and grabbing the phone—that was glued to my ear—with one hand, I sit on the edge of my and Jake's bed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I can imagine Seth waving a hand at me. "So, where is Quil taking our beloved sister?"

"I don't know," I answer. "Leah hasn't told Emily and I yet. But we hope it's somewhere romantic. Jake took me to this Italian restaurant on our first date. It's pretty pricey but the food's really good."

"I took Daisy to McDonald's on our first date," Seth says.

"Ew," I cringe. "Really, Seth? McDonald's?"

He just laughs. "I know. Even she thought so but at the same time she understood why I took her there."

"Why did you?" I raise an eyebrow, even though he can't see it.

"Because I didn't have enough money to take her someplace expensive," Seth tells me. "I did do just that, though, on our second date, as a way to make up for the first." There's a long pause on the other line before he speaks again. "I got a part-time job."

"And you didn't tell us this because…?" I chide.

"Because I wanted to make sure I could do it," Seth explains. "And it's not exactly the best job in the world."

"What is it?"

Long pause.

"A barista at Starbucks," Seth reveals.

"Okay," I say, blankly. "What's so bad about that? A lot of university students work part-time as baristas. Emily was a barista at Starbucks here in Seattle while she was attending the University of Washington."

"Again, it's not the best job in the world," Seth says.

"But the pay's good?"

"Yes."

"And the hours are flexible?"

"Uh-huh," I can imagine Seth nodding as he answers my questions.

"And the benefits are good, too?"

"Yep."

"And you're working in a safe, clean environment?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then I don't see what the problem is," I finish. "Working as a waitress is also not the best job in the world because I'm on my feet all the time and moving around the diner but I do it because of all those things I just mentioned. And also because I have kids to feed."

"You're right," Seth says, sounding relieved. "I guess I worried for nothing. It's just that whenever I want to do something with my life, I'm afraid of what you, Emily and Leah might think. Like the whole moving-far-away-to-attend-school. You guys did not take that well."

"But in the end, we supported your decision," I tell him. "I mean, sure, we tried to talk you out of it and Emily threatened to tie you up so you'd never leave the house, but you were old enough to make your own decisions and I guess we still thought of you as our little brother we needed to protect at all costs. We still think of you that way."

"I know you do," Seth chuckles.

"How _is_ school going for you?" I change the subject. "You're not playing Fortnite when you're supposed to be studying and doing homework, are you? Because if Emily finds out…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, she'll kill me," he finishes. "Don't worry, I'm not. And to answer your question, school's going well. I have finals so I'm studying really hard for them."

"That's great," I praise my brother. "You're well on your way into becoming a lawyer."

"Yeah, I still got three more years of undergraduate study to go," Seth says, "and three years of law school before I'm _officially_ a lawyer."

"So that means you're coming home, then? After you've completed your finals?" I cross my fingers, hoping he gives me the answer I want to hear.

"Of course," Seth tells me and I pump my fist up in the air. "And I think it's finally time you guys meet Daisy. Turns out, she lives in Tacoma."

"Finally!" I practically yell and Seth just chuckles. "Have you told her anything about us?"

"Only that I have three older sisters who are always on my case," I can hear the laughter in his voice.

"We're only on your case because you're after all, the youngest in the family," I assure him. "And you're a thousand miles away, remember?"

"I know," Seth says. "But anyway, I talked a lot about you guys and about our past. I told Daisy what happened to Mom and Dad and how you, Bella, saved all four of us from being next."

I smile sadly. "I only did that because Dad told me to."

"Even if he didn't, you still would've done it," Seth says. "And Daisy applauds you for that."

"She sounds like a sweet girl," I smile.

"She is," I can imagine him smiling to himself. "You'll like her. She's actually studying to be a doctor like Leah's doing so they definitely have something in common." There's a brief moment of silence before he speaks again. "Well, I should probably go. Finals."

"Oh yeah, sure," I say, standing up. "But we'll talk later tonight? With the rest of the family? Charlie and Susie miss you very much."

"Charlie and Susie?"

"Yeah, Jake was the one who came up with the nicknames," I tell Seth. "And they actually like them. I hope you're okay with that. Emily and Leah are."

"Of course I'm okay with Charlotte being called 'Charlie' and Susannah being called 'Susie,'" he says. "I mean, you _did_ name them after our parents, after all, right?" We both laugh at that. "But yes, hopefully we can talk later tonight. Bye, Bella."

"Bye, Seth." And with that, I hang up.

"Was that Seth?" I jump at the sound of Jake's voice and turn to find him standing in our bedroom doorway in his uniform.

"Uh, yeah," I say.

"How's he doing?"

"Great," I tell him. "He's studying for finals. What are you doing here?"

"What, I can't stop by my house to see how my girlfriend is doing?" Jake grins, entering the bedroom and walking up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him.

"You saw me three hours ago," I state, lifting my head to look up at him and reach up to wrap my arms around his neck.

"I know," he says. "But I miss you and the twins when I'm at work. If it makes you feel any better, I drove by their school during recess before coming over here."

"How are they?" I ask.

"They seem to being doing fine," Jake tells me.

"And what did the teachers have to say about you snooping around?" I raise an eyebrow.

He just laughs. "Nothing considering I'm a cop. From what I could tell, they just thought I was driving by, checking up on things, which is the truth."

"Well, I'd get mad but I would've done the same thing," I say. "I _have_ done the same thing, actually, even though I knew the girls would be safe, especially when they're with Emily."

"That's all part of being a mom," Jake tells me. "I know that from experience. My mom used to always worry about me when I was at school so she'd show up to my classroom, unexpectedly." He smiles weakly. "She'd walk up to my desk and embarrass me in front of my teacher and classmates by fussing over me. After about five minutes, she'd finally leave me alone and go home. The school then would call my dad at work and tell him about how his overbearing wife suddenly showed up at his son's school without warning and when my dad got home, he'd give my mom an earful."

"My mom actually did that too," I say and Jake nods, knowing _exactly_ which mom I'm talking about. "Because the school's never seen her before, they thought she came to kidnap me. They called the police but it was only my dad and Mac who showed up. My dad then explained the situation to them but did not know that my mom showed up at the school because she was worried about me and wanted to check up on me. What I don't understand is why she didn't do that with Seth or Leah or Emily."

"Maybe because she worried more about you than she did her own children," Jake speculates. "You are the Chief's only daughter, after all. Maybe Sue wanted to make sure you felt loved and included and was worried that you weren't being just that."

"Maybe," I say and I suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jake stares at me like I'm crazy.

"I can be overprotective of the girls just like my mom was," I tell him and he laughs, too.

"We eventually become like our parents," he says, grinning, before grabbing his phone from his holster and turning it on. "I should go. I got to get back to work and I think Paul's starting to become agitated in the cruiser."

"Why didn't you invite him in?" I ask, shocked and surprised at this. "I would've made coffee for you two."

Jake just shrugs his shoulders. "He was tired so I let him sleep for a bit."

"Well, go then," I shoo him away, playfully.

"Can I get a kiss goodbye, first?" Jake asks, leaning in. "Because it may be the last time we see each other."

I sigh and he leans in to give me a quick peck on the lips. When he pulls away, I shoo him away again. "Now, go."

Jake chuckles before turning on his heel and walking out the door. He stops in the hallway and turns back around. "I love you, Bella."

I smile. "I love you, too, Jake." With that, Jake leaves to go back to work and I go back to folding the laundry.

* * *

"I like her already," Leah grins like the Cheshire Cat when Seth mentions that his girlfriend, Daisy, is studying to be a doctor at Stanford. "She and I are going to get along just fine."

"Yeah, she was a candy striper at the Seattle Children's Hospital," Seth explains. "She saw how badly hurt the patients were and wanted to help by majoring in medicine. At least if a client gets hurt at work or has been in an accident, Daisy can nurse them back to health and I can help them settle a dispute in court."

"You'd make a great team," Emily teases. "So, when are you flying in?"

"I still have two more finals to go and Daisy does too," Seth answers. "So, this weekend, give or take."

"That's fine," Emily says. "Now we just have to figure out where you'll be staying."

"With you, of course," Seth tells her.

She smiles weakly. "Yeah, about that. You know Sam and I are dating, right?" Seth nods at this. "And that we have been for a while now?" Another nod. "So, he's pretty much moved into my house."

"And that's a problem?" Seth asks.

"It is if you don't want to hear moaning coming from our bedroom in the middle of the night," Emily says and Seth just cringes at this.

"You'll stay with me," Leah tells him. "Quil and I haven't gotten that far in our relationship. We haven't even gone on our first date yet."

"When are you? Going on your first date, I mean?" I ask her.

"This Friday," Leah tells us. "We're going to dinner and then seeing a movie."

"Oh, fun," Emily says. "At least he's not taking you to McDonald's." This last statement is directed at Seth as she smiles teasingly.

"You're never going to let this go, are you?" Seth groans, running a hand through his hair.

"Nope," Emily says, still smiling. "If you needed ideas on where to go on a first date, all you had to do was ask. I mean, you do know you have three sisters who know about this stuff, right?"

"It didn't occur to me at the time," Seth says.

"Well, now you know you can come to either one of us, or both, if you need advice on dating or about anything really," I tell him.

"Where are Charlie and Susie?" Seth asks, changing the subject.

As if on cue, the twins come running into the living room and when they see their uncle on my laptop screen—as well as their aunts—they block my view of the screen, leaning in close to get a better look, even though I have Skype on full-screen mode.

"Hi, Uncle Seff," they greet, ignoring their aunt Emily and aunt Leah, who don't say anything.

"Hi, girls," Seth grins at them as I reach forward to pull them back at a safe distance. They sit on the floor by my feet. "How are you doing?"

And like always, they start to babble on about their day and what they've been doing lately. While they're still taking swimming lessons, I've also signed the twins up for other activities like gymnastics, dance, and for Susie, piano lessons. Emily has a grand piano at her house that my dad bought for me when _I_ took lessons as a child. Even after I stopped, we still kept it because we figured one day, our children might want to use it. Emily is always telling me that Susie plays on the piano all the time whenever the twins are over at their aunt's house. It was Emily who suggested I sign Susie up for lessons.

Seth listens intently and with the grin plastered on his face as the twins tell him about that day we went to the aquarium with Rachel and Rebecca. Seth knows who they are because earlier, I told him about them. Charlie and Susie tell their uncle about how they saw a mommy sea lion, a daddy sea lion, and two baby sea lions that reminded them of their own family. The family of sea lions were so cute, I just had to take a picture, that I then show Seth, whose grin grows even wider.

"Okay, girls, it's time for bed," I interrupt the twins' babbling. They groan and beg me with their puppy dog eyes to let them stay up a little longer so they can continue to talk with their uncle. "You can talk to Uncle Seff another time. In fact, he's coming home soon."

Charlie and Susie cheer excitedly at this and we all laugh. They then say good night to Seth, as well as Leah and Emily, and stand up, running down the hall to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back," I tell my siblings before getting up from the couch and following the twins to the bathroom. I can still hear Leah, Seth, and Emily talking as I watch Charlie and Susie brush their teeth in the mirror. They continue to babble in between brushes about what they want to do when Seth comes home.

"Is Uncle Seff staying with us?" Charlie asks as I tuck her into bed, having already done so with Susie, who passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. Jake is working the graveyard shift so I am on my own with the twins' bedtime routine.

"No, baby, he's not," I tell her. "He's staying with Aunt Leah."

"Oh," I can hear the disappointment in Charlie's voice.

"You'll still get to see him," I assure her, pushing her hair away from her face, making a mental note to schedule haircut appointments for the twins. "You love your uncle Seff, don't you?"

Charlie just nods.

"He loves you too," I say. "And so do Aunt Emily and Aunt Leah."

"Don't forget Daddy and the police," Charlie adds and I laugh. "And Susie."

"Of course. They all love you." With that, I give Charlie a kiss good night and she closes her eyes, falling asleep. I then stand up and leave her room, but not before checking to make sure her night light still works. Seeing that it does, I turn off her room light and close the door, slowly.

"Okay, I'm back," I say as I come back to the living room and sit on the couch in front of my laptop, still in a video chat with my siblings. "What'd I miss?"

"Seth just booked the tickets for the flight back to Seattle," Emily explains. "I was thinking once his plane lands, we pick him and Daisy up at the airport and we all go out to dinner, meet Daisy, and invite Rachel so Seth can meet her."

"What about Rebecca?" Seth asks.

"She's back in Hawaii," Leah tells him.

"Aw," Seth whines. "I'm always the last person to meet your new friends."

"You know why that is," I say. When Seth doesn't say anything more, I continue, "Besides, Rebecca was only in Seattle for the weekend. But you'll eventually get to meet her."

"So, it's settled, then?" Emily says. "We pick up Seth and Daisy from the airport and head to Ateara's for dinner. Is that alright with you, Leah?" I know she's only asking because of course, Quil will be there.

Leah nods. "Yes."

With that, we say our goodbyes and end the video chat.


	13. Chapter 13

**Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

The Swan-Clearwater girls stand at the airport terminal, anxiously waiting for Seth and Daisy to enter. Jake and Rachel are still stuck at work, but will meet us at Ateara's afterwards.

"Are you sure his plane lands at six forty-five?" Emily—more anxious than Leah and I—asks, biting her thumbnail. "What time is it now?"

Leah takes out her phone from her pocket and turns it on. "Six fifty."

"Then he should be here by now," Emily says. "What's taking so long?"

"Maybe he's all the way at the back of the plane," I shrug my shoulders. "Maybe he and Daisy have to wait until the people in front of them have collected their carry-ons and gotten off so they can do the same."

"Or maybe we got the times mixed up," Emily adds.

"I don't think we did." Even though there are a lot of people entering the airport terminal, I can just make out a tall Native American man among them. A petite young girl is walking beside him, both of them pulling a carry-on while a duffel bag is hanging on each of their backs.

The twins are the first to make a run toward Seth, followed by the rest of us. They yell, "UNCLE SEFF!" as they run as fast as their little legs can carry them. Seth and Daisy stop walking and Seth crouches down, opening his arms wide for the twins to run into, laughing when they practically throw themselves at him. He tries to pull away, but Charlie and Susie keep a firm hold on him.

"It's good to be home," he grins, hanging onto the twins as he stands up. He gestures to the girl beside him. "Everyone, this is Daisy, my girlfriend. Daisy, this is my family."

Daisy smiles at us. "It's so nice to meet all of you," she says. "Seth has told me so much about you. He even showed me a picture so I know who all of you are." She starts going down the line, pointing first at Emily, "You're Emily." She points at Leah. "You're Leah." She points at me. "And you're Bella." She then turns her attention to the twins, still clinging to Seth. "And these two are Charlotte and Susannah, Bella's daughters." She smiles at them and they shyly hide their faces in the crook of Seth's neck.

"It's so nice to meet you, too," Emily smiles. "Seth has told us so much about _you._ "

We make our way to the baggage carousel to collect Seth and Daisy's luggage, making conversation along the way. Though the twins have finally detangled themselves from Seth, they each hold his hand while Daisy pulls his carry-on.

"I hope you're hungry," Emily says as we leave the airport with the luggage and head to the parking lot.

"Starving," Daisy says. "I wanted to grab something to eat before we left San Jose, but Seth told me we're going out for dinner once we landed in Seattle."

"San Jose?" Leah raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we figured we'd fly out from there instead of straight out of Stanford," Seth explains. "It was only a twenty-minute drive and one of my buddies dropped us off so we wouldn't have to pay for an Uber."

"Don't you have a car?" Emily asks.

"Unfortunately, no," Seth tells her. "I can't afford one since I paid off my student loans with the money I already had. That's another reason why I got a job at Starbucks. Actually, it was only a seasonal position, but when I get back to California, I'm going to ask if they can keep me part-time."

"Did I mention that you can come to us for anything?" I remind him. "That includes money to buy a car and anything else you need."

Seth just laughs before turning his attention to Daisy. "See, I told you they smother me. Even from far away."

"We don't smother you," Leah argues. Seth just raises an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe we do a little."

"I understand why you girls do that," Daisy says. "Seth is the youngest and the only boy in the family so you feel it's your duty to protect him."

"I like you," Emily smiles at the young girl, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

While Leah and Emily buckle the twins in their car seats, I help Seth and Daisy put their luggage in the back of Leah's car.

"This is only half of our stuff," she explains when I see how many suitcases they both brought with them.

We then get in the car and Leah pulls out of the parking lot and onto the street, driving to Ateara's.

* * *

"Oh my goodness, Seth Clearwater, is that you?" Quil practically grins from ear to ear when he sees us standing in the doorway of his restaurant. He makes his way toward us, pulling his best friend in for a hug. "I didn't know you were back."

"I just got in about a half hour ago," Seth tells him, returning the hug.

Quil turns his attention to Daisy, standing beside Seth, holding his hand. "And this lovely lady must be Daisy." He bows, like a gentleman. "Quil Ateara, the fifth. Seth's best friend since childhood and the owner of this place." He gestures around him.

"It's nice to meet you, Quil," Daisy smiles at Quil and lets him take her hand—the one not holding Seth's—in his so he can kiss the back of it. "What a gentleman."

"He gets that from his father." Joy appears out of nowhere and stands beside her son, who is a couple inches taller than her. This is the first time I'm seeing Joy since she's always in the kitchen whenever we come to Ateara's.

"Hi, Mrs. Ateara," I smile at her. "It's nice to see you out of the kitchen."

"Yeah, I figured it was time I get out of there," she says. "I may be the one coming up with new recipes for the menu, as well as helping out with cooking and preparing the food, but I'm still the manager." Joy then waves a finger at me. "And I thought I told you to call me Joy. _Mrs. Ateara_ makes me want to go crawl in a corner and cry my eyes out."

"She still does that," Quil says, the comment earning him a slap at the back of the head from his mother. "Ow." He rubs the spot where she slapped him. "Sorry, Mom," he mumbles.

"Well, your boyfriend and his sister are already here," Joy says, the statement directed at me. "I'll show you to your table."

We follow her to a big table by the window, where Jake and Rachel are already seated. Jake grins when he sees me and the twins and gets up to give me a kiss on the lips in greeting and the twins each a hug. Rachel also gives me a hug and both she and her brother greet Seth, Emily, and Leah and introduce themselves to Daisy. Once the introductions have been made, we take a seat around the table and Joy hands the adults each a menu and the twins their paper kids' menus.

"So, Bella," she says, turning to face me. "Still interested in working here?"

"Actually, Leah and I both are," I tell her. "In fact, we just handed in our two-week notices this morning."

"Great," Joy smiles. "I will still have to train both of you, but it won't take long considering we're family and you have worked as waitresses before so I know you both will do just fine."

"We look forward to it," Leah says.

Joy gives us both another smile and with that, she leaves to give us a few minutes to think about what we want to order.

"You're in luck," Seth tells Daisy. "My sisters and I have known the Atearas for a really long time so we get a discount every time we eat here. Or it's free, but that is if we're lucky and the owner is feeling it."

"Cool," is all Daisy says as we scan through our menus.

Dinner was pretty much spent with us getting to know Daisy and vice versa. While she and Seth are home for the summer, she's going to continue her volunteer work at the Seattle Children's Hospital. Jake is shocked at this.

"I actually do volunteer work there as well," he tells Daisy. "I bring ice cream to the children and read to them."

"So you're the Officer Ice Cream Man everyone at the hospital talks about," Daisy laughs. "Weird that we've never crossed paths."

"Officer Ice Cream Man?" I lean in to whisper to Jake.

"Yeah, that's what the nurses call me," Jake tells me, smiling sheepishly. To Daisy, he says, "That is weird. But I haven't volunteered at the hospital in weeks. I guess aside from my job as a police officer, two mischievous little girls have kept me busy." He winks at Charlie and Susie—who are sitting across from us with Seth between them—and they giggle. He then takes my hand in his and squeezes it gently.

"Aw, that's sweet," Daisy says. "You seem like a great father."

Neither of us correct her on the fact that Jake is not really the twins' father. But I'm sure she already knows that, given they don't look anything like him.

"What about you, Seth?" I ask Seth. "What are you going to do during summer break?"

He just shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe do odd jobs, here and there."

"That's good," Emily says. "At least it'll get you out of the house."

"It sure will," Seth laughs.

As usual after we've had dinner—as well as lunch—Joy comes by our table with dessert, but it's panna cotta instead of chocolate cake. "This is a new item on the dessert menu," she explains as she goes around the table, placing a small plate each in front of us. "You're the first people to try it."

We take a bite of the panna cotta and we all seem to like it, much to Joy's happiness. "But Quil is still going to drop off the chocolate cake to the three of us, right?" I ask, gesturing to Leah, Emily, and myself.

"Yes, but because you like the panna cotta as well, he just might give you that, too," she smirks. "Or one or the other."

"Yay!" the twins, who haven't spoken in a while, cheer, making us all laugh.

After dinner and dessert, the adults, minus Seth and Daisy, split on the check and we say our goodbyes to Joy, as well as Quil, and leave the restaurant.

"Well, that was a nice dinner," Daisy says as we stand by Leah's car. "Thank you for that. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Of course," Emily says, squeezing Daisy's arm gently. "You're part of the family now and we all have a close-knit relationship with one another."

"I can see that," Daisy smiles. "And I hope it's okay that I bring Seth home with me. My parents want to meet him."

Seth's eyes widened at this. "You didn't tell me that."

Daisy smiles sheepishly. "Sorry. I figured if I told you now, you can't back out."

"I can try," he mumbles.

"That's fine," Leah tells Daisy. "I can come back and get him when he's done."

"Great," Daisy smiles while Seth just looks uncomfortable.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here it is! The answer to the one question on everyone's mind!**

 **WHO IS CHARLIE AND SUSIE'S REAL FATHER?**

 **A few of you have already guessed the obvious. The question is, is it really _him_?**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

I received a text message during lunch rush at the diner. Now I'm in the back, on my break, staring at the text on my phone, wondering whether to reply or not.

"Hey." I glance up to find Leah entering the break room. "Everything okay?"

I don't say anything as I hand her my phone. She reads the message to herself. "Is this who I think it is?" I nod. "And why now after all these years? What does _he_ want?"

"Well, _he_ wants to meet up for coffee, that's for sure," I speak. "It's all there in the text."

"And are you going to meet up with him for coffee?" Leah asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, I want to," I tell her. "But only to see how he's doing."

"He signed away his parental rights."

"That doesn't mean we cannot see each other," I say. "I didn't file a restraining order against him so if he wants to see or contact me, he can."

"Are you going to tell Jake?" Leah asks.

"I have to," I reply. "I just don't know how he's going to feel about it."

"Do you still have feelings for _him_?"

I shake my head. "Oh god, no. He was just someone I lost my virginity to."

"Well, whatever you decide, I'll support it," Leah assures me, handing me back my phone. "Just don't hide this from Jake. The guy's already like family."

"I won't," I promise.

* * *

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?" Emily yells, clearly not happy when I told her I received a text from the twins' biological father and was going to meet up with him for coffee. Only, she didn't say _freaking._ "THAT SCUMBAG ABANDONED YOU AND THE GIRLS AND NOW HE REACHES OUT? NOW?"

"He didn't abandon us," I say, immediately regretting telling her about the text. My family hated the twins' father for what he did and still does, Emily more than Seth and Leah. Hell, if my father were alive, he'd have the guy arrested. Or worse.

"He signed away his parental rights without giving it a second thought," Emily tells me, pretty much repeating Leah's words. "And then after all these years, he just comes crawling back. I'm shocked that Jake is even okay with this."

"I haven't told him yet," I admit and flinch when Emily yells through the phone once again. "But I will when I get home."

"I think you're making a big mistake, meeting this guy," Emily says. "And I still stand by my word. If I see _him_ again, Sam or Jake or someone will have to arrest me for murder."

"It's just coffee, Em," I assure her.

"I really hope so," she says. "For your sake and for Jake's."

* * *

I'm still thinking about the text, even as I come home after a five-hour shift at the diner. Jake and the twins are sitting on the couch in the living room, watching cartoons. They turn their gaze to the front door, where I'm standing, and Charlie and Susie get up and run towards me while Jake just stays where he is with a grin on his face.

I crouch down and open my arms wide for Charlie and Susie to run into. I hug both of them while peppering their faces with kisses. Before I can ask, they start to babble about their day, like they always do whenever Jake or I come home from work.

The twins are still babbling, even as I take off my coat and hang it up on the rack by the door. I'm their mother, but even _I_ sometimes cannot understand what they're saying, though, I can sort of get an idea of what they're _trying_ to say.

Jake gets up from the couch and joins us in the foyer. "Girls, Mommy just got home from work. Why don't we let her sit and rest for a bit?"

Charlie and Susie stop babbling and they follow me as I go to sit on the couch, but not before giving my boyfriend a hug and a kiss on the lips, making the twins giggle. Normally, kids their age would be grossed out when they see their parents—or any couple really—kiss, but not Charlie and Susie. I have Emily to blame. She's always teaching them something, even when it's not suitable for them.

"How was work?" Jake asks, joining me on the couch while the twins sit on the floor by our feet.

"Fine," I answer, matter-of-factly.

He sighs, placing an arm around my shoulders. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything's wrong?" I lie.

"I can tell by the look on your face," Jake says. "It's not the usual 'I'm really tired from work. Can you leave me alone for five minutes?' Come on, spit it out."

I sigh before detangling myself from him and getting up to go grab my phone from my purse on the table at the front. I hesitate before turning around and going back to sit on the couch beside Jake, the twins watching us from the floor. I turn on my phone, pull up the text message, and hand it to Jake. Like what Leah did earlier, he reads the message to himself.

Jake turns his attention to the twins. "Girls, why don't you go play in Charlie's room? Or Susie's? Mommy and I need to have grown-up talk."

"Okay," they say at the same time before getting up and running down the hall towards Susie's room. Once they're out of earshot, Jake turns his attention back to me.

"Is this him?" he asks, pointing at the message on my phone.

I nod.

He silently reads the message again before asking the same questions Leah did earlier. I answer them the same.

"How do you feel about it?" I question him.

"I don't know," Jake answers. "I mean, for all I know, he wants you and the girls back." He gives me a sad look.

I take his hand in mine, squeezing it gently. "That is _never_ going to happen. You, Jacob Black, are the twins' father. The only father that they have and the only one that they know. They don't know _him_. I've never showed them any pictures or talked about _him_ to them."

"So you only want to meet him because you want to know how he's doing?" Jake inquires.

"Yes," I tell him. "But if you're not okay with it, I won't do it. I'll just tell him something came up. I'm sure he'll understand."

"Well, as long as it's only to catch up, I'm okay with it," Jake says.

"Are you sure?" I raise an eyebrow.

He nods, giving me a small smile, before handing my phone back to me.

"Okay," I say. I turn on my phone and reply to the message.

* * *

I pull up beside the café and turn off the engine. I get out and lock my car before going around to the entrance. I open the door and look around the café for him. He's sitting on one of the couches by the window. At first, he doesn't notice me because he's on his phone, but when I walk up to him, he looks up and gives me a small smile.

"Hi, Bella."

"Hey, Emmett," I say before sitting down on the couch in front of him.

* * *

 **I can imagine the shocked looks on your faces.**


	15. Chapter 15

**The reason why I waited until the previous chapter to reveal the identity of the twins' biological father is because I had trouble deciding who it should be and I didn't want it to obviously be Edward because that would be...well, obvious. But yes, Charlotte and Susannah's—or Charlie and Susie—biological father is Emmett Cullen. Now I don't know if I want him to be the good guy or the bad guy, but I'm leaning towards the latter.**

 **Any mistakes that you see are my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.**

* * *

Neither Emmett nor I speak to each other as the waitress comes by to take our order. I order a green tea while Emmett orders a coffee, two creams, two sugars. Once the waitress—Georgia, her nametag read—leaves, we just stare at each other and I feel the tension rise between us.

"How are you?" I speak after a long, awkward silence.

"Good," Emmett replies, blankly. "I spent the last four years in Canada on a visitor's visa and got back last week."

I just nod and it's silent again. Georgia comes back with our hot drinks, setting down my tea on the table in front of me and Emmett's coffee in front of him.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asks, the question directed at Emmett. Who can blame her? He's a good-looking guy. But not as good-looking as Jake.

"No, thank you," Emmett says, not bothering to glance at the woman, who's giving him a flirtatious look.

Realizing that he's not paying attention to her, Georgia gives him a small smile before leaving our table.

"So, why were you up in Canada?" I ask Emmett.

"After everything that happened, I just needed to get away," he answers. "I only planned to be in Toronto for seven days, but I fell in love with the city so I decided to apply for the visa and stay longer." He pauses for a moment before speaking, "What about you? What's been going on with you?"

"Well, I'm still working at the diner with Leah," I tell him. "Actually, we're both quitting and getting new jobs at Ateara's. They're not doing so great over there."

"That's great," he says before shaking his head. "I mean, about you and Leah quitting and getting new jobs, not about the fact that Ateara's is not doing so great." He lets out a small laugh. "I heard the owner died last year and that his son took over."

"He did," I say. "My family and I still go there sometimes." I don't tell Emmett that Leah and Quil are finally dating. He doesn't need to know that.

"Nice," he smiles before leaning forward to take a sip of his coffee, blowing on it first. "What else has been going on with you?"

"I have a boyfriend," I tell him. "His name's Jacob and he's a cop." I put emphasis on the word, cop, hoping it will get the point across.

Emmett raises an eyebrow. "Is he good to you?"

"Of course," I answer.

"Is he a good father to the twins?"

And there's the one thing I was hoping we would avoid talking about.

"Yes, he is," I say, taking a sip of my tea. "He loves them like they're his own and they love him. They even call him 'Daddy.'"

If Emmett's hurt by this, he doesn't show it. Then again, he _shouldn't_ be hurt by the fact that the twins call Jake "Daddy."

"And how _are_ Charlotte and Susannah?"

I shrug my shoulders. "They're fine. They're in preschool now and doing quite well. Emily's their teacher so sometimes when I can't pick them up because I'm working, she takes them home with her and I pick them up after I'm done from her house. Sometimes, I even let them sleep over there if it's late into the evening and they're in bed.

"They've also been involved in activities like swimming, gymnastics, dance," I add. "And they're pretty much attached at the hip, being twins and all."

Emmett's eyes widen. "Wow, it seems like I missed out on a lot."

I just wave my hand like it's no big deal and take another sip of my tea.

"Have my parents contacted you since _that day_?"

I know what he's talking about and shake my head. "But from what I heard, they divorced four months ago and your mom moved to Spokane while your dad is still here in Seattle and working at the hospital."

"That must be awkward for you since you go there for your doctor's appointments," Emmett tells me. "I'm assuming, anyway."

I wave my hand again. "It's okay. We avoid Carlisle like the plague and vice versa whenever we're at the hospital." If only that were easy for Leah, though, considering she'll be working there soon.

Emmett's parents, his father especially, were not happy when we told them we were expecting, including the part where we told them it was twins. But his mother still supported us while his father called me a bunch of inappropriate names and tried talking Emmett and I into giving the twins up for adoption. I told him I didn't want to do that because I was willing to give up everything to be a sixteen-year-old mother. He told me I'd soon regret doing that.

Even now, I still don't.

It's awkward again as we enjoy our hot drinks. Emmett is staring at me while I'm staring anywhere but at him.

"I wish I'd been there for you and the girls, but I just wasn't ready to be a father at seventeen," he says. "Even now, I'm still not ready."

"I'm sure you will be, eventually," I assure him. "You just have to find the right girl." Maybe Emmett should ask Georgia out on a date. She seems like a sweet girl. But I don't say this out loud.

"I'm sure I will, too," he smiles, weakly. "But anyway, I got a good job and an apartment. I'm a sales associate at Lowe's."

"Cool," I say, blankly.

We continue to make small talk, even after we finish our drinks. When it's time to leave, it's awkward again because neither of us know whether we should hug or not. So instead, we just (awkwardly) shake hands and I get in my car to go back home since I have the day off.

* * *

Jake is spending "father-daughter" time with the twins—after having picked them up from school—by taking them to the trampoline park and going out to eat afterwards. Leah is at her apartment, studying for her finals, Emily is either still at the school or with Sam, and Daisy is at the hospital, doing her volunteer work over there. So although Leah's car is parked in front of my house when I pull into the driveway, I know it's not really her. Because he doesn't have a car, Leah is letting Seth drive hers.

"Why am I the last person to find out you had coffee with the twins' deadbeat father?" Seth angrily asks, right when I open the front door and step inside, his arms crossed over his chest. I still keep a spare key underneath one of the flower pots, only so Emily, Leah, or Seth, can let themselves in when Jake or I—or both of us—are not home, especially when they have the twins with them.

"I'm sorry," I apologize and Seth's face softens. "I'm still really happy that you're home and I didn't want to ruin that."

"Are you going to see Emmett again?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

I shake my head. "No."

"Good," he smiles for a moment before it disappears, replaced with the same angry look. "Because I hate that guy and so do Emily and Leah."

"Yeah, you told me that before," I remind him. "The three of you also told me that if you ever saw Emmett again, you'd murder him."

Seth goes back to smiling. "Only because we love you and we love Charlie and Susie."

"I know you do," I say. "And I love you all, too."

Jake is still out with the twins so I decide to cook Seth and I an early dinner and we continue to talk over Sue Swan's vegetarian lasagna. The same one I made when Rebecca was visiting from Hawaii and I invited her—as well as Rachel, Leah and Emily—over for dinner. It's when Seth and I are each enjoying a slice of apple pie—store-bought, unfortunately—with vanilla ice cream for dessert that Jake and the twins finally come home. Of course, because Seth is their number one _favorite_ uncle, the twins' faces brighten with happiness when they see him and run towards him to give him a hug while Jake walks up to me and wrap his arms around my waist, leaning down to give me a kiss on the lips.

When Seth pulls away to look at them, he frowns, "Is that chocolate all over your face?" He glances back and forth between Charlie and Susie, who giggle.

I pull away from Jake to see for myself. Sure enough, there's chocolate smeared all around the twins' mouths and on their cheeks. I look up at him, raising an eyebrow.

He smiles sheepishly. "We had pizza and cake. Molten lava, to be exact." He's so handsome when he does that, it's hard to stay mad at him for long.

"Please don't be mad at Daddy, Mommy," Charlie says and I turn to find the twins gazing up at me with puppy dog eyes. "It's not his fault."

I reach up to ruffle her hair with one hand. "I'm not mad, sweetie. But did you girls have fun with Daddy?"

They nod, smiling widely.

"Good," I smile. "Now why don't you two go to the bathroom and wipe the chocolate off your face?"

"I'll go with them," Seth says and he follows the twins down the hall to the bathroom. I can hear the three of them talking and the twins giggling, and turn to face my boyfriend, who is grinning down at me.

"So, how did it go?" he asks, placing his hands on my arms, squeezing them gently.

I reach up to wrap my arms around his neck. "I'll tell you later. Right now, I'm just so glad you and the girls are home, safe and sound." I gently pull his face toward mine to give him a quick peck on the lips. "How did it go on your end?"

"It went well," Jake says. "Charlie and Susie behaved themselves at the trampoline park and the pizza place. That's why they had cake afterwards. It was a reward for being such good girls."

I laugh. "Yeah, but I wouldn't get used to it. They're good now, but believe me, once your back is turned, they're all over the place."

Jake chuckles. "Don't worry, I can handle Charlie and Susie. I mean, I knew what I was getting myself into when I asked you out on a date and you immediately became my girlfriend after that."

"You didn't even ask," I say, laughing again.

"I didn't need to," he grins before leaning in to kiss me again. It ends up being a make-out session right there in the space between the dining room and the kitchen and I momentarily forget there are other people in the house. It's when we hear a throat clearing, followed by giggling, that we pull away to find the twins smiling widely at us while Seth just looks uncomfortable.

"I'm five years old again," he mumbles before speaking out loud. "Anyway, I'm going to head out. Leah's probably hungry so I'm going to go pick up dinner for her."

We follow him to the front door and he crouches down to give the twins each a hug before standing up to do the same with Jake and I. We say our goodbyes to him and watch him leave, walking down the stone path towards Leah's car. We watch him get in and wave as he starts the engine and drives away.

* * *

It's late into the evening and while I get ready for bed, Jake having already done so and the twins already in bed, asleep, I tell him about my coffee date with Emmett.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to talk about the twins, but there we were, talking about them," I say in between brushing my teeth. "I'm just glad he didn't say anything about wanting the three of us back. I would've rejected him." I spit into the sink and rinse my mouth with mouthwash.

"Does he know you have a boyfriend?" Jake asks.

I nod. "Yes."

"And does he know that said boyfriend is a cop?"

"Yep," I say, popping the P. "I even put emphasis on the word in case he ever tried anything. Then again, we were in a public place so there's no way he would."

"Well, I'm just glad that's over," Jake says.

"Me too," I agree and after rinsing the mouthwash off, I move on to washing my face. "I won't be seeing him again anytime soon. Unless of course, we run into each other at the grocery store or something. Other than that, Seattle's a big city. There's lots of people who live here."

"Good," Jake smiles. "Now, changing the subject. How do you feel about a spa weekend?"

"Hold that thought." I wash my face using cleanser and pat dry using my hand towel hanging on the rack. I then move on to moisturizing and after washing my hands, I leave the ensuite bathroom, closing the light and joining Jake on our bed.

"To answer your question, I think that's sounds like a wonderful idea, but when I brought up with you, you told me you'd rather do anything else than get a facial."

Jake just laughs. "No, not for you and I. I mean for you, Emily, and Leah. When I was picking the twins up from school, Emily mentioned something about you not having made any time for yourself because you're too busy working and being a mom and that she bought a spa package at the Alderbrook Resort & Spa for the three of you."

I snort. "I've had time for myself. I _make_ time for myself."

"Really? When's the last time you've done that?" Jake smirks.

I think about it for a moment. "When Charlie and Susie slept over at Emily's house."

"And when was that?"

"After you and I had our first date," I tell him.

"That was a month ago," Jake says. "And that seems like a really long time."

"But I can't just leave my girls," I practically whine. "I mean, yes, I've done it before, but they were always with someone I knew and trusted and I was always within driving distance in case there was an emergency."

"I understand that," Jake says, calmly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his side. "But parents need a break from their kids every once in a while. And it's too late to back out now. You leave Friday evening so you should start packing tomorrow."

"But Leah has finals," I say, hoping it'll be a good excuse not to go.

"Which she'll have time to study for," Jake says. "It's just two days, Bella, unless you count Friday. You'll be fine and so will the twins and so will Leah."

"I guess you're right," I say, giving up. "This should be fun."

"And don't worry about finding a babysitter because I am sitting right here," he grins, pointing to himself.

I laugh and Jake turns off the lamp, filling our room with darkness. We get underneath the covers and I snuggle closer against his bare chest as he wraps both arms around me. A moment later, I yawn and close my eyes, falling asleep.


End file.
